Lögberg-Heimskringla - 05.06.1992, Blaðsíða 3

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 5. júní1992 • 3
lcelandic-Canadian citizen
honoured in Guatemala
On November 5, 1990, the city of E1
Estor, eastem Guatemala, celebrated
its centenary of incorporation. There
were numerous celebrations, one of the
principal of which was the official inau-
guration of the Central Municipal Park,
located in the commercial and adminis-
trative section of the city of E1 Estor.
Harold G. Kristjanson Munlcipal
Park
This area had been designated as the
Central Park of the municipality many
years ago, but nothing was ever done to
provide any beautification or facilities
until the 1970’s. By 1990, this park
enjoyed the reputation of being the fin-
est municipal park in eastern Guate-
mala. It carries the name of “Harold G.
Kristjanson”, which is inscribed on a
large bronze plaque set in the concrete
monument commemoration the park.
The citizens of the Municipality re-
quested that the park be given this name
because they were firmly convinced that
nothing would have been done to beau-
tify this park if it were not for the influ-
ence and efforts of Harold G.
Kristjanson, an Icelandic-Canadian
engineer who had represented INCO,
Ltd., in Guatemala, from 1966 until his
repatriation to Canada in 1981.
The early years in Winnipegosis
Harold Gisli Kristjanson was born
in Winnipegosis, Manitoba, Canada,
onJanuary4th, 1921. Hewasthefourth
child of Kristján Ottó Kristjánsson, who
came from Stapadal, in ísafjörður, Ice-
land, as an immigrant to Canada in
1913 when he was twenty; and Sigrid
Martha Borgford, an Icelandic-Cana-
dian who was bom and raised at Arborg,
Manitoba. Sigrid’s parents had come
from Borgarfjörður, Iceland, as immi-
grants, in the 1880’s.
Ottó had come from Iceland to make
his fortune and then return home, but
he soon discovered that it was not as
easy as he had been led to believe to
make a living, let alone a fortune, in
“America”. After meeting Sigrid (Sigga)
he decided to put off going to Iceland
for the time being, and they were mar-
ried in 1916.
Ottó was an apprenticed carpenter
and cabinet-maker from his youth in
ísafjörður and Reykjavík, Iceland. He
was able to find constmction work with
not too much difficulty during the warm
months in the Winnipeg area, but sum-
mer is short and he found it difficult to
get work in the winter. In the winter of
1914-15 he tried commercial fishing,
along with Albert Kristjanson (no rela-
tion), who had come over to Canada
with Ottó from Iceland. Fishing in win-
ter and doing constmction became the
pattem of Ottó’s life for some 15 years.
After he married Sigga, he built a
home in Winnipegosis where he lived
until 1936, when he started his own
contracting business in Geraldton,
Ontario. He and Sigga had seven chil-
dren, all bom in Winnipegosis. They
were: Kristjan, bom in 1917; Laura,
bom in 1918; Edwin, born in 1919;
Harold, born in 1921; Selma, bom in
1922; Grettir, bom in 1923; and Skuli,
bom in 1927. Ottó built a home in
Geraldton and Harold joined him there
afterfinishinggrade 11 in Winnipegosis
in June, 1938. Sigga and the younger
children joined them later after settling
their affairs in Winnipegosis. To
Harold’s knowledge, none of the family
ever retumed to Winnipegosis, although
Harold plans to return.
Engineering chosen
Harold worked with his father on
constmction in Geraldton until 1939,
when he went to Winnipeg to finish
grade 12 so that he could enter univer-
sity to become a Lutheran minister. He
had a change of heart before he gradu-
ated, and decided that he would rather
be an engineer. When he retumed to
Geraldton he got a job as an under-
ground miner at the McLeod Cockshutt
Gold mine and has been associated
with the mining industry ever since.
Harold obtained a B. Sc. degree in
TAYLOR
McCAFFREY
CHAPMAN, SIGURDSON
Barristers & Solicitors Winnipeg...................Phone 949-1312
4lh Floor - 386 Broadway Gimli......................Phone 642-7955
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3R6 23 Stitt Street, Winnipeg Beach.Phone 389-2999
Mr. David King attends in Gmli and Rivarton on the frst and thrd Friday of eech month and Mr. Tim Teylor in
Winnipeg Beach in the aftemoon on the second and fourth Fnday of each month.
Office hours are held in Gimli at 3rd Ave. and Centre St. between the houre of 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon end 4-5 p.m.
In Riverton, Mr. King attenda at the Riverton Village office between the hoirs of 1:30 and 3 p.m.
Office hours are held at Winnipeg Beach betwaen 2 and 4 p.m. in the Winnipeg Beech office of Gimli Credit Union.
Warm, friendly hospitality on the west shore ofLake Winnipeg
Bert & Vera Osborne
For Reservation Telephone (204) 378-2754
orwriteto: Box1131, Arborg, MB, Canada
Mining Engineering from Queen’s Uni-
versity in 1944. After graduation he was
employed by the Geological Survey of
Canada. In early 1945 he began to work
for Lundberg Explorations, Ltd., of
Toronto, which made geophysical sur-
veys, mostly in Canada, but in other
parts of the world as well. Harold be-
came Chief Field Engineer for Lundberg
in 1947 and worked in many mining
areas in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba,
the Northwest Territories and in the
U.S.A.
Working in Nicaragua
In 1948 he accepted a challenging
position with the American Smelting
and Refining Company of New York to
supervise the construction of a
monocable tramway over a distance of
over 8 miles through virgin jungle in the
Mosquitia of northeastern Nicaragua,
where their subsidiary, The Neptune
Gold Mining Company, operated sev-
eral small gold mines.
Harold made the acquaintance of
the old General Somoza as well as of his
sons Luis and Tacho who both later
became Presidents of Nicaragua. Harold
was invited to lunch by General and
President Tacho Somoza Jr. in 1978
shortly before he abandoned Nicara-
gua when he lost to the Sandinistas.
Kidnapped
In Jime of 1958 Harold was kid-
napped, along with seven American
engineers, by Raul Castro and held hos-
tage in various rebel camps in the Sierra
Cristal for nearly three weeks. Harold
and an American engineer named Bert
Ross were the only victims who suf-
fered strafings and bombings as well as
hunger, uncomfortable facilities, no
change of clothes, no shaving or bath-
ing facilities, and constantly being un-
der threat of being shot. It was no pic-
nic.
It did receive world-wide publicity.
The plant was shut down in April of
1960 and all foreign personnel were
retumed to the USA except Harold,
who was the only Canadian. He stayed
at the minesite until the end of August,
when he and his wife went to New
Orleans.
Wedding in Havana
Harold was married in Cuba in 1956
to a beautiful Honduranian girl whom
he had previously met in Central
America. Hernamewas Blanca Zulema
Cordova and was born in San Juancito,
Honduras, which was the home of the
famous Rosario silver/gold mine which
had been producing since the early 19th
century. She was a beautiful woman
with many artistic abilities including
culinaryskills, clothingdesign, oil paint-
ing, ceramics, dancing, singing etc. One
of her sisters was married to a Cuban
diplomat and she had come to visit her
sister with a group of Honduranian
diplomats, which gave Harold the op-
portunity to meet her again and to pro-
pose marriage. There were many friends
and members of the Honduranian Em-
bassy at the wedding which was cel-
ebrated in Havana.
All is lost in Cuba
When Harold left Cuba everything,
exceptthe clothes on his back, remained
in Cuba. He never imagined he would
lose it all, but shortly after he left Fidel
Castro intervened in the mine, plant
and all personal property which re-
mained there. So Harold had to start
from scratch again. Not only were arti-
cles of great material value lost, but
many items of great sentimental value
were lost as well. Although Harold at-
tempted to have the Canadian Ministry
of Foreign affairs intervene on his be-
half, it was to no avail.
Harold began searching for another
job in some other Latin American coun-
try. During his travels through the U.S. A.
and Canada during this waiting period,
he gave many talks before clubs, profes-
sional organizations, schools and uni-
versities about the political situation in
Central America and the Caribbean
speaking strongly against Fidel Castro.
Active involvement and recognition
Harold has been a member of such
International Clubs in various coun-
tries as: Rotary in Peru, Lions in Guate-
mala and Optimists in Canada. He was
the recipient of numerous rewards and
diplomas for public speaking and for
safety and performance. He was made
an Honourary citizen of the Municipal-
ity of E1 Estor, Izabal, Guatemala, in
1972, named “Friend of the People” by
the same Municipality in 1978 as well
as having the Central Park named in his
honour in 1990. In 1981 he received
another Honour of Merit from this
Municipality.
Harold is listed in “Who’s Who in
the World”, 4th and 5th editions, “Men
of Achievement” volume 7, “Intema-
tional Who’s Who of Intellectuals”,
volume 3, and “Internation Register of
Profíles”, edition 4/5.
Impressed with lceland
Harold and his wife visited Iceland
in 1970 during an extended trip to most
of the European countries west of the
“iron curtain”. They visited many of
Harold’s relatives and left very much
impressed with the wonderful hospital-
ity of the people and the beauty of the
land. Mrs. Kristjanson says that she
thinks that Iceland is the most interest-
ing country she has ever visited and
believes that it should serve as the best
example of a well organized democracy
which should be emulated by all coun-
tries searching for such a form of soci-
etyandgovernment. Harold agrees. He
is very proud of his pure Icelandic her-
itage with both sides of his family hav-
ing traced their lineage back to the days
of the Viking Norsemen.
Submitted by Erla Macaulay