Artist, author.
Born at New Finland, Saskatchewan on 20 August 1930, one of four children of Vera Mathilda Luhtala (1906-1989) and Leonard K. Lauttamus (1907-1977), she moved to Manitoba in 1950. Between 1963 and 1986, she was an art instructor at schools and community centres in St. James. She was also an active artist, best known for her woodcut prints of landscapes, plants, and natural beauty. Her work is in collections of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Ontario, and National Gallery of Canada. She wrote Festivals of Finland (1987) and several children's books including Flikka and the Magic Bear (1989), and Flikka and the Prince Edward Island Mystery (1995) that were illustrated by her woodcuts. On 26 July 1952, she married James A. “Jim” Birt (1922-2001) at Winnipeg and they subsequently had three daughters. She died at Winnipeg on 25 August 2026.
“Gift shower held for Hazel Lauttamus,” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 July 1952, page 11.
Obituary [Leonard K. Lauttamus], Winnipeg Free Press, 22 November 1977, page 112.
Obituary [Vera Mathilda Lauttamus], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 September 1989, page 23.
“Local writer bases kids' stories on Finnish heritage” by Manfred Jager, Winnipeg Free Press, 14 November 1989, page 36.
Obituary [James A. Birt], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 January 2002.
Obituary, EthicalDeathCare.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 13 July 2026
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