Mirka Inari Luoto passed away unexpectedly on November 16th in Skokie, IL. She was born July 23, 1975 in Finland, and moved her family to Gulf Breeze, Florida, where she grew up and graduated from Gulf Breeze High School. She lived her life fully pursuing her passions of the outdoors, travel adventures and caring deeply for her kitties.

After graduation, Mirka lived in the big cities of Los Angeles, New York City, Denver and Chicago with her career in finance. She was most in her element outdoors. She was an avid fisherman, hiker and just enjoying the solitude of nature, especially on the water. She combined that with her joy for travel. She enjoyed deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, fly fishing in Colorado, bait fishing in the lakes of Finland, and taking trips to Alaska with her family for salmon fishing. Mirka also undertook some amazing mountain adventures hiking the Tierra del Fuego in Argentina, Cinque Terra in Italy, the jungles of Central America, the Swiss Alps, islands of Hawaii and had plans to walk the Santiago de Compostela in Spain. She enjoyed the adventures as well the fascinating people and stories along the way.

She will be deeply missed by her family, friends and fellow adventurers. She is preceded in death by her father, Kalervo Luoto, and leaves behind her mother, Paula Luoto, and sister, Piritta van Rijn, her husband, Jeroen, and nieces, Sofia and Vivian, and nephew, Alexander.

In lieu of flowers, please take the adventure you've been dreaming of (do it now!) and consider making a donation to your local animal shelter.