a war better than adults, I think," she says. "But I remember sadness. Everyone was sad for years. I never saw a smile."
Her grandmother was one of the war's first casualties, having been gravely injured in one of the first rounds of bombing. When Thamm made her way home, her mother was nowhere to be found at first.
On clear nights, Thamm prayed for no more bombings. In the daytime, it was constantly cold because no one could use their fireplaces. The Russians would see the smoke rising from chimneys.
The bombings continued. On an errand to the pharmacy, Thamm found herself trapped for three days in the rubble from yet another bomb. She was one of only three to be rescued.
She remembers going to school in the mornings during the winter and seeing the bodies of Finnish soldiers stacked like logs in train cars.
"You could see their feet coming out from under blankets," says the elegant and worldly Thamm, who still speaks with an accent. "There were maybe 20 rail cars at a time."
Thamm learned to blend the paltry, two-pound monthly flour ration with equal parts of ground pine bark to stretch supplies while creating the illusion of the smell of freshly baked bread.
That brought her into dangerous territory, however.
She was collecting pine cones in a nearby forest one day when a Russian airplane pilot spotted her. The pilot brought the plane down closer and closer. She hid behind the tree as he began to fire, taking splinters from the tree trunk.
"I saw the pilot's face," she says. "I'll never forget it, it was the face of a killer. I just remember this enormous hatred. I remember thinking, 'Why would he want to kill me? I'm so little.'"
She lived near a prison camp and would look at the Russians to see whether she'd recognize the pilot.
On Feb. 3, 1943, the day after the German surrender at Stalingrad, Nazi Germany announced that it had become allied with Finland. This brought with it yet more complications, but some opportunities.
"Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles, uber alles in die weld" replaced morning prayers at school. On the other hand, Thamm was able to befriend the German dogs that guarded a barn used by Germans for their food stores.
Because of her relationship to the dogs, she was able to crawl under the fence past their watch and "borrow" food items, which were used for barter. Her excursions fed more than 100 people and years later, when she was 16, Thamm was awarded a medal for bravery by the Finnish government.
Happier times lay ahead.
Skiing to School
During the 1952 Olympics, which Helsinki hosted, Thamm was one of six "maidens" chosen by Finland's Prince Philipp to escort him into the Olympic stadium.
"I don't have the foggiest idea as to why I was chosen," says Thamm. I suppose it was my family name, Strandell. It was a well-known name in Finland. It had various branches, and mine was the poorest. Others owned big factories and breweries."
As a young girl, Thamm was unmoved by the opportunity to march into the stadium -- a few steps behind the prince, of course.
"When you're very young you can't appreciate the enormity or the emotions of the moment," she says. "Now I would be overcome with pride."
Growing up in Finland afforded another unique experience.
"Everybody skied in Finland," she says. "We didn't have cars, so we skied to school. When you learn to walk, you learn to ski."
When she was a little older, she'd take her pet dachshund and pack him up in a backpack to take him skiing.
"I called him Jerry after the Tom and Jerry cartoons," she says. "I loved those cartoons."
Thamm's skiing skills later proved useful as she was asked to demonstrate cross-country skiing for a visiting French ambassador and his wife. In anticipation of the occasion, Thamm went to a hairdresser and was fitted with a trendy ponytail. But on a downhill slope, the ponytail became entangled in a tree branch and was yanked off her head. The ambassador followed her and later presented Thamm with her errant hairpiece with a kiss on her hand.
Into the Business World
Thamm went to university to study engineering. She also majored in business administration through the university's school of economics.
"I was the only woman in the class of about 18," she says.
It was a special class sponsored by the government for foreign service.
"In a crude sense, we were training to become industrial spies," she says, joking. "Because upon graduation, we were to go around looking for industries to bring back to Finland. We were called technical advisers."
Thamm was involved in bringing computers to Finland from France. She also worked for Nokia in its early years.
After two years, she took a position with the Finnish Diplomatic Service. It was through this job, and through a 15-year love affair with a well-known European composer, that Thamm was able to rub shoulders with such celebrity figures as Edith Piaff, George Sanders, Edward G. Robinson, and Leonard Bernstein.
Heartbroken after her relationship ended, Thamm turned to the U.S., where her education as a mechanical engineer served her well. She arrived in 1970.
Among other jobs, she taught construction management at the University of Texas. She also lived in California and Wisconsin, and took an executive training course at Harvard Business School.
Of all the places Thamm lived, she liked Texas the best.
"It was most like European countries," she says. "The people are sincere, but a little naive."
Old Adversaries Wed
Primarily, Thamm's 25-year career was in the electric utility industry, mainly in the construction of fossil and nuclear-fueled power plants.
Because of her work, Thamm was appointed to the President's Council of Economic Advisers by both Carter and Reagan administrations.
During this time, Thamm became an expert witness, testifying before congressional committees for utility companies during utility rate increase hearings. While she represented the utility companies, her opposition, Tom Thamm, represented the construction companies.
"We spent 12 years on opposite sides," Thamm says of her future husband. "He testified that my information was wrong, and I testified against his information. We fought like cats and dogs for 12 years -- never even had a cup of coffee together because we were on opposite sides."
When Tom's wife died, Marjatta received a fax. It said, "I'm lost. I don't know what to do. Knowing your clear mind, I'd be grateful for any advice."
"And he signed it, 'Humbly, Tom Thamm,'" says Thamm. "Tom was a very proud man, I've never seen him humble. I just sat on the fax, trying to figure out how I should reply."
Finally she did. She advised him to go to Thailand to find a wife.
Tomm sent another fax asking whether they could possibly put 12 years behind them to find out if there was anything personal between them.
"I had a male assistant and I turned to him and said, 'the nerve of that man.'"
The couple married in January 1988 and were married for 17 years.
"We had a beautiful musical wedding," says Thamm. "Tom's neighbor was the music director of the Metropolitan Opera."
Small World
Tom had had a career as a Naval captain who had seen most ports in the world through a periscope. When the couple retired in 1997, they traveled the world so he could see ports from above water for a change.
Of all the places they traveled, Thamm liked the Amalfi coast of Italy and Greece's Mykonos Island the best. While there, the couple heard a symphony while seated in a huge amphitheater once attended by Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
"It was such a powerful and beautiful experience," she says. "The acoustics were wonderful. And life is so simple and peaceful there."
They moved to the Pinehurst area after vacationing here one year. But in one special way, for Thamm, it was like going back to Helsinki.
"When I moved to Belle Meade I met a woman, Joan Meade," she says. "Her father was the ambassador during the (Russo-Finnish) war and helped negotiate peace."
As a child, Meade lived in the diplomatic quarters of Helsinki.
"She must have lived like Princess Margaret and Elizabeth, with nannies and maids," Thamm says. "I remember looking up the hill with envy."
The two women became friends. In fact, Meade recently presented Thamm with some of her father's diplomatic papers from his time in Finland.
"And to think," Thamm says, "we met here."
Belle Meade resident John Waugh contributed to this story. Mary Griffin can be reached by e-mail at mgriffin@thepilot.com.
