John Wickström

Wickström was born as Johannes Wickström in the village of Vassor, Kvevlax, Ostrobothnia. His father Johan Wickström was a coppersmith, manufacturer and painter. The family had nine children, the oldest of which died at a young age. He attended primary school in his home village, but, from a young age, he worked in his father's workshop. He was interested at testing and creating; after seeing a picture of a bicycle on a Swedish newspaper, he built one for himself.

Wickström married Ida Maria née Östman (1873–1952) in 1892. Their children were Sigrid Ingeborg (born 1893), Werner Theodor (born 1897), Roy John Elias (born 1901) and Alma Ellida (born 1902). The couple was divorced in 1919; as divorcing was rare and generally not socially accepted at the time, a possible reason could have been rumours about Wickström's illegitimate son in the United States. In the same year, Wickström married Julia Wilhelmina née Bergsten, with whom he had Ingrid Brita Maria (born 1920) and Johannes Carl-Gustav (born 1922).

At an early age, Wickström committed to total abstinence from alcohol, and he took part in temperance society activities. In Chicago, he was a member of the local Swedish–Finnish temperance society (Svensk-Finska Nykterhetsföreningen Topelius), and he was chairman of the Swedish–Finnish Temperance Federation (Svensk-Finska Nykterhetsförbundet). In Finland, Wickström supported prohibition.

Wickström was a founding member of the Finnish Odd Fellows fraternity in 1925. He was member of the Vaasa city council.

Wickström financed his birth municipality Kvevlax, his former school in Vassor village and craft school Kvevlax Slöjdskola. Many craft school students were inspired by Wickström's example, becoming entrepreneurs themselves.