Lögberg-Heimskringla - 28.04.1995, Síða 2

2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 28. apríl 1995
Rev. Sven Olafsson served many state towns
By Duchesne Paul Drew
In his 97 years, the Rev S. S. (Sven)
Olafsson spread the word of God at
small and large churches through-
out Minnesota. The Methodist minister
died Saturday in Minneapolis.
“He loved meeting people and visit-
ing with them, helping them in any way
that he could,” said his daughter Nancy
Ipsen of Golden Valley.
Olafsson spent most of the past 30
years in retirement, after more than 30
years in the ministry. From marrying
couples to christening babies his ability
to conduct services in his native tongue
made Olafsson a treasure for those in
search of traditional Icelandic cere-
monies. For his 80th birthday he was
awarded the prestigious Order of the
Falcon by the president of Iceland.
The youngest of nine children
Olafsson was bom in Akranes, Iceland,
in 1897. In 1911 his family moved from
Iceland to Winnipeg, Canada. After fín-
ishing high school he went to the
United States to study religion and phi-
losophy at Valparaiso University in
Indiana. While in college, he met
Maurine Finnegan, whom he married
in 1926.
From Indiana, the couple moved to
Evanston, Illinois, where Olafsson
studied theology and eamed his doc-
Minnist
í ERFÐASKRÁM YÐAR
torate in divinity at the
Garrett Seminary.
Olafsson’s career took
him and his family to
small and large towns and
parishes throughout Min-
nesota. He would preach,
and his wife would play
the piano or organ.
“He served a lot of dual
parishes which was more
than customary in those days,” his
daugher said. “There were smaller
churches and fewer ministers.”
He started his ministry serving
parishes in Cromwell and McGregor,
Minnesota in 1929. From 1931 to 1933
he served parishes in Lester Prairie and
Norwood, Minnesota. In 1934 Olafsson
and his wife moved to minister to the
people in Zimmerman and Princeton,
Minnesota. That year, they also had
their daughter.
After a few years, they moved again,
this time to Morris, Minnesota. But, as
was common, they stayed only a few
years. Their next move took them to a
small parish in Coleraine, Minnesota,
on the Iron Range. They had their son
Paul, in 1943, while serving a parish in
Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Then, in
1944, they moved to Duluth where
Olafsson ministered to the parish at
Central Avenue Methodist Church.
After five years in Duluth, the family
• moved to northeast Minneapolis where
Olafsson served at Trinity Methodist
Chutch at Lowry Avenue and Taylor
Street. After about five years there, he
took a one-year leave and then
retumed to the ministry this time in
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South St Paul, where he
served for eight years,
before moving up to Little
Falls and Royalton,
Minnesota, for his last
years of active ministry,
1961 to 1963.
Even after supposedly
retiring, Olafsson served
as the assistant pastor at
Wesley Methodist Church
from 1964 to 1966. Then he and his
wife really did retire to their home in

Oskar T. Sigvaldason
Ph.D., P.Eng.
Appointed president of
Acres International Limited
Oskar Sigvaldason has worked
with Acres since completing
his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering
at the University of London (England)
in 1965. He obtained his initial B.Sc.
degree at the University of Manitoba in
1959. During his early career at Acres,
he participated directly in the develop-
ment and application of computerized
models for the design of civil engineer-
ing projects, hydro projects, bridges,
tunnels, dams, etc. He later took a lead
role in the development and applica-
tion of planning models for managing
water resources systems and for invest-
ment planning in the power sector.
From 1975 to 1988, he was exclusively
involved in the development and man-
agement of Acres overseas operations.
He lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, for two
years (1988 to 1990) managing a feasi-
bility study of one of the world’s largest
multi-purpose water resources projects
in the Himalayan portion of the
Ganges Basin. He became Executive
Vice President in 1990, and in 1994
was appointed President of the
Company.
Dr. Sigvaldason, a member of the
Acres organization for some 30 years,
until recently based in Niagara Falls,
has written numerous technical papers
in the fields of water resources, energy,
power, engineering mechanics, mathe-
matical modelling and concrete tech-
nology. He has participated in seminars
and lectured at universities throughout
North America. He is truly an engineer-
ing scholar applying his skills for the
benefit of Canada and the global com-
munity.
Acres International Limited is a
Canadian-based consulting engineering
Richfield. When she died in 1970 he
moved to an apartment in Minneapolis
and later to the St. Olaf Nursing Home,
where he died.
In addition to his daughter,
Olafsson is survived by his son, Paul, of
Robbinsdale, three grandchildren and
three great-grandchildren. Services
were held at United Methodist Church
of Peace, 6345 Xerxes Ave. S. Mem-
orials may be directed to the family.
Interment was at Lakewood Cemetery
in Minneapolis. CourtesyStarTribune
company with offices across Canada
and with extensive overseas operations
in Asia, Africa and Latin America. A
sister company has offices in the United
States. Acres provides consulting engi-
neering and project management ser-
vices in the power, transportation,
industrial and environmental sectors.
The company employs 800 personnel
who span a wide range of disciplines
engineering, economics, socioeconom-
ics, environmental sciences, agriculture,
physics, chemistry, etc.
In Acres beginning (from 1923),
activities were primarily associated with
early development of Canada’s
hydropower potential. Since 1950,
however, it has expanded into the
development of thermal and nuclear
generating facilities, transmission lines,
irrigation developments, flood control
facilities, highways, bridges, airports,
steel mills, mining complexes, and
cleanups of various polluted sites.
Because of its large size and its
extensive international experience
which spans more than 4Q years, Acres
is recognized as one of the world’s
major consulting engineering compa-
nies.
Dr. Sigvaldason was bom in Arborg,
Manitoba in 1937. His parents are
Guðni and Aðalbjörg Sigvaldason of
Arborg.
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