Finn Rasmussen
Finn Rasmussen
05 Oct ???? - 10 Feb 1992
Clubs & Associations
Remembrances
I remember him well. He was a good friend of Joseph Hoffman that danced with us at that time (he is still in Albuquerque). He was indeed from Denmark. I don't have a lot of historical information on him. He was very fit and was a bicyclist, was very personable, and enjoyed dancing with us. I think he was at least 10 years older than me and looked very Scandanavian. I seem to remember that he was somehow involved with UNM for a period of time. I do remember a photo or two of him that would be in the WB archival photographs. If Turtle-Bear is still the keeper of those, then there might be some access to them.
— Bill Eyler
Finn lived in Arhus (the "a" has a little circle above it or Aarhus, as it's written in English), Denmark's second largest city. Had been married, had a son, and continued to be in contact with his ex-wife while in Albuquerque. He had lived and worked in Hamburg, Germany for a time and spoke good German. His German was better than his English. I remember him telling me that as a child he was old enough to remember the German seaport Flensburg, I think it was, in flames from having been bombed in the last years of the war. The city could apparently be seen from where he lived with his parents at the time.
He came to UNM in 1988 to study art and left at the end of the spring semester, 1989. He was at that time in his 40s. He gave me a smallish, framed abstract painting and also presented one to Jean Effron and her partner Sue Steketee. His son, whose name I do not remember, came to visit once and stayed in the dorm. I think Finn lived for a period in the dorm but I seem to recollect that he had an apartment on Silver also, in the same building as Don Schrader, whom Finn found to be a bit of a downer due to Don's serious political/environmental/health/etc. activism. Anyway, he and his son together got a gig to drive a car to California to deliver it and saw some of the western US on the way. They had an uneventful trip as far as the vehicle was concerned, but damaged it somehow upon arrival.
Finn loved the Wilde Bunch and adored the sunshine that we have here. If you've ever been to Europe in the winter, you'll understand. He became somewhat close to Bucky (whose name he pronounced as "Buggy") from Edgewood, to me, and charmed a good number of other square dancers. Larry Peck, who died of AIDS, and Peter Garcia from Silver City, were attracted to Finn as well.
You drove Finn and me up to Colorado for Easter 1989 square dancing at a camp in the country (Aurora, CO?). Stayed overnight in Pueblo, CO.
Finn suffered from pretty severe depression (alleviated by the NM sunshine) and ended up being hospitalized for it not too long after he returned to Arhus. He hanged himself while at an in-patient facility. The Wilde Bunch sent his wife a card, which all of us signed. She wrote to me some time later explaining the circumstances of his death. I had that letter and reread it before tossing it during COVID cleaning this past spring.
That's just about all I remember about Finn.
— Joseph Hoffman
Memorial Panel
- 2LR | Wilde Bunch
