Toivo Ryynanen was a Finnish Canadian from northern Ontario. Before going to Spain, he worked as a chauffer, lumberjack, and miner, and was involved with the Communist Party of Canada, the Young Communist League, and the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers. He was one of hundreds of Finnish Canadians who made their way to Spain, many of them from lumber communities around what is now Thunder Bay. Ryynanen was from the small community of Sunshine, Ontario, where he was part of the brightly named Finnish Organization of Sunshine. 

He arrived in Spain in August, 1937, and served with the Machine Gun Company of the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion. He was KIA, either at the battle of Ebro or during an aeriel bombing in Teruel.