and since then, the Knights have been the first to arrive to shake hands with the president. In the last few years, Gerdt has been the only Knight in the Celebration, because since 2006, fellow Knight Heikki Nykänen (fi; 1920–2011) could no longer attend the Celebration, because of health problems. In 2008, 2009 and 2010 Gerdt was the only Knight to attend the Independence Day Celebration. Gerdt and his wife Lea were the first to shake hands with President Tarja Halonen. In 2010, Gerdt attended the Celebration without his wife, who was suffering from back pain. Gerdt intended to attend the Celebration as the only Knight of the Mannerheim Cross also in 2011, but he had to cancel his attendance one day before the event, on 5 December, because his wife had suffered an accident. Gerdt also participated in the National veterans' day celebration on 27 April 2012 in Espoo as the only living Knight of the Mannerheim Cross. Gerdt died in a hospital in Helsinki on 1 November 2020, at age 98. On 28 November, a military funeral was held for him and Gerdt was buried in Lappeenranta. Sources Hurmerinta, Ilmari; Viitanen, Jukka: Suomen puolesta, Mannerheim-ristin ritarit 1941–1945. Jyväskylä: Gummerus, 2004. . Hurmerinta, Ilmari (ed.): Mannerheim-ristin ritarit: Ritarimatrikkeli. Mannerheim Cross Knight Foundation, 2008. . References 1922 births 2020 deaths People from Heinävesi Finnish military personnel of World War II Finnish people of German descent Knights of the Mannerheim Cross