Lögberg-Heimskringla - 12.09.1980, Blaðsíða 5

Page 5
A TRIBUTE TO JÓHANN THORVALDUR BECK (1900-1980)
Long, long ago in the prehistoric (to
the modern generation) era of the early
1920s two young men, the brothers
Beck, occasionally visited my parents'
home. Their mother and my father
were — I think — first cousins. Their
visit was always an event. Whenever
they came, there was no dearth of
stimulating conversation. I cannot
remember making any worthwhile
contribution, but I listened open-
mouthed to the discussion. Of wordly
goods they had but little, but memory
lingers on of their "joie de vivre", their
positvie attitude towards life, and their
intellectual acumen.
Now they are both gone to the Great
Beyond.
Richard attained international ac-
calim as a scholar, author, and poet.
Valdi (or Joe to some of his friends)
restricted his far-from negligible
contribution to society to the confines
of the City of Winnipeg. The crowded
cliurch at his funeral on Friday, August
22, 1980, was a testimonial to his
populatiry and a token of appreciation
for his participation in so many facets
of meaningful activities involving the
Icelandic community of his adopted
ciiy.
Mr. Beck was born February 9, 1900
in Eskifjord, Iceland, coming to
Canada in 1914. He was employed
with Columbia Printers (Wallingford
Press) as the manager. In that capacity
he played a prominent part in the
publication of Logberg. The First
Lutheran Church was his spiritual
'home. Through the years he has been
active in the life of this Parish, sup-
porting the Men's Club and especially
the Choir. For about forty years he
served as the President of the Choir,
and has left an example of faithfulness
in attending rehearsals of the choir and
being present at services. Incidentally,
he attended a service at the church on
his last Sunday on this earth. He
served as President of The Icelandic
Canadian Club; was a member of the
Icelandic National League; an ongoing
supporter of the Betel Homes; a
staunch member of the Icelandic
I.O.G.T. Lodge. These are but a few of
his many activities.
The following is a tribute by his
colleague and friend at Columbia
Printers, Franck Scherer. It was read at
the funeral service by Pastor John V.
Arvidson.
"Further to the sad news of the
passing of Mr. Joe Beck, we think that
the folliwing is in some way a com-
posite feeling that all of "Little Joe's"
fellow workers and many friends felt
about him.
If "Mr. Webster" had ever met Mr.
Beck, he would have had a hard time
explaining his definition of the word
"little".
Webster uses words as small,
unimportant, petty. We all found Joe
the exact opposite — "BIG". Big of
heart, Big of himself in giving to
others, Joe Beck could always find a
little good in everyone.
If we could have a "Little Joe Beck"
in us, we would all be “Bigger People."
Our thoughts are with Mrs. Beck and
family and we' extend our deepest
sympathy.
Valdi (or Joe) was in many respects a
íortunate man. In this day and age of
marital discord and weakening family
bonds, the idyllic kinship of Svana,
Valdi, and their children is a heart-
warming example of a happy
relationship, "far from the madding
crowd's ignoble strife". A lucky man
indeed, was Valdi to have Svana at his
side. Through the thick and thin of the
hungry thirties and many other ad-
versities, Svana stood beside him as
firm as the Rock of Gibraltar, sharing
his joys and problems, encouraging,
supportive, whenever the winds of
adverse fate blew, as they do at times
on all of us. With not too many
precedents they exemplified the adage,
"Where there's will, there's a way".
But theirs was a closely-knit family.
Their children worked as one with
their parents in helping to finance their
education. With their limited income
how did they manage to support and
encourage all their children to
graduate? It will always be a mystery
to everybody except the members of
the family. Their daughter, Joan,
graduated from the School of Nursing;
their sons from the University of
Manitoba; Raymond and Dick in
Electrical Engineering; Allan in
Pharmacy; Michael in Commerce. This
achievement in itself is a fitting
ENN AUKAST
REKSTRARERFIÐLEIKAR FLUGLEIÐA
Fram kemur í fréttabréfi Flugleiða
frá 22. ágúst s.l. að rekstrarerfiðleikar
félagsins hafa enn aukist til muna.
Segir að sérstaklega hafi erfiðleikarnir
verið miklir á flugleiðinni milli Luxem-
bourgar og Bandaríkjanna um Island.
Samkvæmt fregnum frá New York
þann 3. september eru allar líkur á að
Flugleiðir hætti flugi til Luxembourgar
frá og með 31. október og flug til
Chicago fellur niður frá og með 1.
október. Breytingar þessar hafa óhjá-
kvæmilega í för með sér að sagt verður
upp verulegum hluta starfsfólks félags-
ins á íslandi, vestan hafs og í Luxem-
böurg. Illmögulegt er að gera sér grein
fyrir framtíð Flugleiða í dag en nánari
fregnir munu væntanlega fást innan
tíðar.
• Að endingu kemur fram í frétta-
bréfinu að samkeppni á Norður
Atlantshafi hafi farið vaxandi síðustu
ár auk hraðvaxandi hækkunar á elds-
neyti og mun nú allt flug á þessari leið
rekið með halla. Ýmsar ráðstafanir
hafa þó verið gerðar af hálfu félagsins
til þess að halda þessari starfsemi
áfram í svipuðu umfangi og verið hefur
m.a. vegna þess hve þýðingarmikla
atvinnugrein er hér um að ræða og hve
margir starfsmenn eiga hlut að máli.
Þvi miður hefur árangurinn ekki orðið
sá, sem vonast var eftir.
memorial to Valdi, and a source of eflacing genlleman will abide with us
pride to Svana. lor many years to eome.
The memory of this modest, self- AA’.
Atvinnusköpun og frádráttur til tekjuskatts
Atvinnusköpun
getur aukið
yður frádrátt
til tekjuskatts
allt að $4r160.
Auðveld leið
Hafið þér hug á að auka frádrátt yðar til tek-
juskatts sambandsstjórnar allt að $4,160 á
ári?
Slíkt er ofur einfalt. Aukið atvinnurekstur
yðar og vinnuafl í samræmi við reglur sam-
bandsstjórnar um skattaívilnanir.
Atvinnuskrifstofur sambandsstjórnar útbýta
skýrsluformum fyrir þá atvinnurekendur
sem vilja gaumgæfa þessi mál nánar.
m^ Atvinnu- og
m^ Innflytjendaráðuneytið
Lloyd Axworthy
ráðherra.
Canada