Lögberg-Heimskringla - 17.02.1995, Blaðsíða 2

2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 17. febrúar 1995
Searching for Laxdal descendants In memory of Geir Zinke
Iam writing this letter
hoping that you can
help me find my rela-
tives in Canada.
They are descendants of
Bjöm Laxdal, my grandfa-
ther’s brother. Björn was
Jóhannsson at birth. He
was born in Reykjavík on
August 17, 1911. His par-
ents were Jónína Guðrún
Jónsdóttir from Borgar-
fjörður and Jóhann Bergur
Jónsson, (undan Eyja-
íjöllum) from the Eyjafjalla
district.
Björn later went to live
with Jón Laxdal, a compos-
er, and his wife Elín
Matthíasdóttir (the daugh-
ter of the poet Matthías
Jochumson), and was
brought up by them.
In 1930 Bjöm moved to
Canada along with Árni
Eggertsson and settled in
Wynyard, Saskatchewan.
He married thére (or on the
West Coast) and had one daughter and
a son, who now would be about 60
years old. He died in 1975 in Canada.
This information comes from his foster
sister Guðrún Laxdal, who is now 80
years old.
My mother Jónína Guðrún
Andrésdóttir has often talked about her
uncle Bjöm and wondered where he or
his descendants were. Her brother,
Andrés, corresponded with his brother
Bjöm during the early years.
Andrés Jóhannsson, my grandfather
and Bjöm’s brother, was bom on May
25, 1902 and died on July 21, 1954. I
am now bying to find my grandfather’s
descendants. There were eleven siblings.
I would therefore be very grateful if
you could help me, or direct me where
to look.
Inserted is a picture of the brothers
Bjöm and Andrés. Bjöm is perhaps thir-
teen to fourteen years old in this picture.
With warm greetings,
Respectfully,
Ásdís Heny Ásmundsdóttir
(Bom: 07.12.1952)
Garðaflöt 9 in Hafnarfjörður
340 Stykkishólmi
Iceland
by W.D. Valgardson
Geir Zinke was killed in the
early morning hours of
January 11, 1995. He was
twenty-nine.
What can I say about Geir?
That he loved to fly. That he wasn’t
interested in doing anything else. That
he came to Canada from Norway so
that he could fly. That he had a repu-
tation for being an excellent flying
instructor. That my niece, Kim
Valgardson, fell in love with him. That
two years ago, she married him. That
we were all glad to have him as a
member of our family.
Obituaries usually are filled with
facts. Names,- dates. Geir deserves
more than that.
I’Il never forget two Christmases
ago when the whole family had gath-
ered at my place in Victoria. Four gen-
erations of us. And because Geir loved
seafood, and because this is Victoria,
we went out and bought crabs and
mussels and clams and salmon,
Anything we could find. But us trans-
planted prairie types didn’t quite know
what to do with live crab. So Geir
gave us all lessons in cooking and
shelling and eating. It was messy and
funny and wonderful.
It’s hard to capture what it is about
someone that was admired and loved
and that will be missed. I think maybe
some of that quality was caught on
Geir and Kim’s wedding day. They
were married two years ago at
Christmas by the Rev. W. Bergman.
Relatives and friends came from
Winnipeg, and Gimli and Norway.
Because the wedding was in
Vancouver we never thought there’d
be snow. But there was. Lots of it.
When I got to the church there was
Geir, all dressed up for his wedding,
shovelling off the church parking lot
so his wedding guests would be able to
park their cars.
Kim met Geir in Gimli while he
was working at the flying school. The
school closed down and they came
out to the West Coast. Finding jobs
flying since then has been tough. He
worked at Skyways, then went to
Williams Lake. He worked at Pacific
Coast Airlines until spring of last year.
Then he joined Canada Jet Charters.
He loved the Lear jets.
A couple of times I tried to talk him
out of flying, finding a job that was
safer. He wasn’t interested. The only
thing he wanted to be was a pilot. He
also liked the fact that working in
medical evacuations, he was helping
people in emergencies.
That’s how he died. He and
pilotDan Jorgensen were flying a doc-
tor and two paramedics to Masset,
B.C. because there was a woman who
was having trouble during labour.
They flew out of Vancouver, passed
over Masset, started their run over the
ocean so they could make a tight turn
and head back in to the runway. The
plane disappeared without waming at
1:40 a.m.
There was a large memorial for the
medi-vac team in Vancouver. The fam-
ilies of Doctor Jeffrey Dolph, Andreas
Goedicke, paramedic, Captain Daniel
Jorgensen, Wendy Thompson, para-
medic, and Geir, met at the Shell Aero
Centre at the Vancouver International
Airport. The program began with a
speech by Reverend John Lowe,
Chaplain with the British Columbia
Ambulance Service. The Premier said
a few words. Mike Krall, the Chief
Pilot from Canada Jet Charters talked
about flying and pilots. There was a
representative from the British
Columbia Women’s Hospital where
Dr. Dolph worked. There were also
speeches by the Executive Director of
the B.C. Ambulance Service and the
President of the Ambulance
Paramedics. Pipers in full dress played
Amazing Grace and a Scottish lament.
Then there were eulogies for each of
the dead. When the service was over,
between four and five thousand
police, paramedics, and friends
marched to the river. A member from
each family laid a wreath on the water.
The ceremony was impressive and
helpful. Ritual really does matter. But
what I remember best is that the hang-
er was very cold. No one expected the
hanger doors to be left open and we’d
been told to leave our coats behind.
Kim and my daughter, Nan, were shiv-
ering. Sven Robinson was standing
beside Kim. He took off his suit jacket
and put it around her. The woman
behind my daughter gave Nan her
coat. Geir would have approved. He
understood about the importance of
small kindnesses.
In Canada Geir leaves behind, Kim,
his wife; Olena Valgardson, his moth-
er-in-law; Shawn, his brother-in-law.
Dempsey and Rae Valgardson, his
grandparents-in-law; a host of friends
and admirers. In Norway he leaves
behind his mother, Else; his brother,
Auden; his sister, Lisbeth; his father
Caleg and his step-mother,Wencke.
We’re going to miss him.
r
i
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