The Kinnune family
There have been Kinnunes continuously farming the same area of Vasaland in Finland since 1620. But that was not the life Charles Kinnune wanted for himself or his family. He tried out American life for four years in 1893, and then returned with his wife and two oldest children in 1900.
The family spent a year in Ohio before settling in the Newcastle-Issaquah area, where Charles found work as a coal miner. But that was not challenging enough for a meticulous, perfectionist like Charles. After working at various jobs, he opened a shoe repair shop around 1906 in what is now the Eagles Lodge.
One of his sons remembers him as an expert in both shoe repair and hand-crafting new shoes. He specialized in logger’s shoes, but could also fashion a perfect fit for someone with deformed feet. He operated the store for 22 years before passing it on to two sons who kept it going into the 1940s.
Charles and Maria Kinnune had seven children. Only their son Henry remained in Issaquah, yet today Henry’s two children, five of his grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren still live here. Several of those family members live along the East Fork of Issaquah Creek on property Charles bought many years ago.
