Rinell Family

Roy Henry Rinell (August 31, 1925 - May 28,1989) married Eva Lindort (July 30, 1933 - ). They were divorced on May 21, 1973. Roy and Eva had no children.

Roy was born in China of Swedish baptist missionaries. As a teenager he and his family traveled to Sweden from China on sabbatical. The Swedish Baptist Mission in Sweden (as opposed to the Chinese branch of the mission) thought it best for Roy that he stayed in Sweden and attend a boarding school. Though not happy about it his parents, Oscar and Hellen, relented. In hindsight this was a mistake. Due to war Roy was unable to return to China.

Later Roy served an apprentice as a pastry baker and later a professional pastry baker. He worked for many years at the prestigious Park Avenue Hotel in Göteborg, Sweden. The Swedish Royal family stayed and dined at the hotel when in Sweden. Roy worked as a pastry baker.

Around 1953 Roy was living at Lemansgatan 8, Göteborg, Sweden.

In 1954 Roy and Eva went on a vacation and recorded in hotel and restaurant receipts, photos and post cards. If their itinerary corresponds to the order of photos in Roy's photo album, Roy and Eva started at Göteborg (Sweden) probably, for this is where they lived and stopped at Malmö (Sweden) before reaching Copenhagen (Köpenhamn, Denmark). After Copenhagen they returned to Malmö and continued up the coast to Hälsingborg, Mölle, Kullaberg nature reserve, staying at Hotell Thor in Ängelholm, and then most likely back to Göteborg.

Photo Album of Roy Rinell 1950-54

In the 1950s Roy applied to emigrate to the United States. One would imagine that he was thinking of living close to his sister, Doris Holmquist and cousin John Rinell in California and work as a pastry chef. The USA did not grant his visa. According to the family, since Roy was born in China, he fell under the China quota of individuals allowed into the US. Apparently, immigration from China was limited. Roy never made it to the US, even for a visit.

Roy worked as a pastry baker at Park Avenue Hotel until his feet gave out. When they became too sore to walk and stand on for longer periods, he got a job in a very little office at the bottom floor of the Park Avenue Hotel where deliveraries were made, such as food stuff for for the kitchen. Here he was able to sit down and get off his feet while recording delivery and pickup of food items.

One year Roy was able to buy a sliver of land near the small town of Björketorp, and contracted with someone to build a small, possibly, prefabricated cabin with Roy helping in the work. He named the cabin 'Sulatorp'.

Sula is the sole a shoe. Many years before a poor cobbler lived in the area, about a two minute walk or less from where Roy bought his sliver of land. Roy showed what he thought were the foundations of the cobbler's house to his nephew Lennart Holmquist. If it was the foundations of the cobbler's house it was a humble house indeed. The foundations, rising just a few feet in height by then for the rest of the house was gone, was only about three meters by three meters if what Lennart remembers is correct.

Having heard about the cobbler Roy used the humble part of the shoe, the sole, for part of the name of his cabin. Torp is a small farm, which in the case of Sulatorp was a grand term for a small plot of land only large enough for a garden and a few small out buildings. Garden, out buildings, cabin, BBQ, two sheds and a car port were surrounded by a stone wall, stone piled atop one another really, of about one meter or so.

At Sulatorp Roy retreated weekends and holidays. Sometimes he invited friends out to enjoy the cabin, surrounding pastures, and countryside with him. Within eyesight were the homes of his neighbors Jan Sture and Annie Andersson. A few kilometers away lived his good friend and co-worker Jan Front. Roy very much enjoyed Jan's two children Anna-Lena and Peter. He recorded a visit of the children in 1971.

Anna-Lena & Peter Front, 27 June 1971

When he reached retirement age Roy planned to retire to Sulatorp. For extra income he planned to open a little second hand, antique shop, perhaps in the old train station in nearby Björketorp. Roy frequented local auctions buying nice items to sell in his shop. However, he died of a heart attack before he could put his plans into action.

Sulatorp passed to Roy's parent Oscar and Hellen. Oscar and Hellen continued to live near the city of Göteborg and traveled out to Sulatorp by bus when they felt like it. Hellen passed away at 91 years of age. Oscar moved to Sulatorp permanently and lived a comfortable life there with his many books, his TV connected to the world, especially to tennis matches, by satellite and an occasional visitor for some years until his passing at 98 years of age.

Roy passed away in his bed in his cabin named, Sulatorp.

Completed in 1972 Sulatorp served for many years as a refuge for the Rinell and Holmquist families. In 2014 Sulatorp was sold.