Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.11.1999, Qupperneq 4

4 » Lögberg-Heimskringla » Friday 26 November 1999
Spo 9 Harold & Rose Johnson
Photo courtesy of Becky Johnson
Left to right: Becky Johnson, Harold and Rose Marie Johnson, and Susan Garrett.
Harold and Rose Marie Johnson
Married July 28, 1949
Becky Johnson
Susan Garrett
Seattle, WA
n July 28, 1999, Harold and
Rose Marie Johnson celebrated
their fiftieth wedding anniver-
sary! A party was held the weekend
prior with friends and relatives from
across Canada and the States. Harold
and Rose Marie were married on the
same day their parents were, twenty-one
years earlier. Skafti Johnson married
Inga Bardarson in Seattle, WA, and
Chris Melsted married Wilhelmina
Oddson in Crown Pint IN, both at 8:00
p.m. on July 28, 1928. They were vow-
ing their love to one another and hon-
ouring their parents, all at the same time.
Their parents had been friends back in
Lundar, so when they all ended up out in
Seattle, Harold and Rose Marie met at
the Icelandic picnic in Silver Lake, in
1943. The rest is history... and they are
still going strong! (Harold is known to
Lögberg-Heimskringla readers from
“Halli’s Kitchen.”)
Ðad was born on May 13, 1929 and
was raised in Ballard. Inga had come out
to Seattle to live with her aunt when she
was twenty-one years old. Skafti had
followed his brothers out to Seattle
when he was twenty-seven years old in
1924, one year after Inga had arrived.
Both being part of the Icelandic com-
munity, our grandparents met, and the
rest was history. Dad was the only child
they had.
Chris" left Lundar to find work and
once he settled, he sent for Mina to
come to him—they were married in
Indiana and settled in the Chicago area
where Clarence was born, and then
Mom in 1930. Chris brought the family
out to Oregon to live in 1942. They
finally moved to the Seattle area in
1943; being Icelandic they settled in the
Ballard area.
So, it’s no wonder that our parents
first met at an Icelandic picnic in 1943.
Mom was thirteen years old, and Dad
was fifteen years old. It actually wasn’t
love at first sight as they were only good
buddies at first! Mom tells stories of her
fixing Dad up with her girlfriends, but
when he kept showing up after the dates
at her house, she thought perhaps she
better re-evaluate the situation and
decided maybe she should keep him!
They both attended Ballard High
School.
Dad ran with his cousins Norman
Johnson, and Alan Olson, as well as
high school friends Don Rosandich and
Don Fogelberg. Mom’s best friend was
Bonnie McGinn. The folks have lots of
stories of Dad, Mom, and Bonnie going
ofif and getting into mischief together!
Bonnie was Mom’s Maid of Honor, and
Norman was Dad’s Best Man. They
were married by Pastor Dunlap at
Northminister Presbyterian Church in
Ballard.
There’s a history on the church too!
The original structure was built by our
grandfather Skafti and his brother
Thorsteinn. The Icelandic community
had donated money and muscle to build
a Unitarian Church there originally
before it became Presbyterian. At the
time they were married, the original
church was being used as the reception
hall where they cut the cake. Hilda
Olson had the honors, and the celebra-
tion began! As was typical at the time,
the party continued over at friends Jack
and Lottie Wallace’s home. Friend Jack
Smith or “Smitty” was the bartender and
from what we hear, it’s good thing most
everyone lived in Ballard! Remember,
they were celebrating both a wedding
and two 21st anniversaries!
Mom worked at Mannings at the
time, and Dad was working at the Union
Oil gas station. They stayed in a motel
room on Hwy 99 for about three months
while they built their first house, in
Alderwood Manor, across from the
Mukilteo speedway. Chris and Mina
gave them the property as a wedding
present, and both dad’s and other family
members helped build the house! They
lived there from 1949 to 1959. This
began what mom calls Harold’s “ten-
year plan.”
Harold and Rose Marie have two
daughters and two granddaughters, and
two great-granddaughters.
When asked what the overall high-
lights of their fifty years has been, we
were told the following:
• Early years with their parents.
• Building and remodeling houses.
• Their daughters, and granddaughters.
• Supporting the granddaughters sport-
ing and school events, and especial-
ly taking them camping and fishing.
• Their great-granddaughters.
• The good years of the fire department;
the comradeship mostly, but also the
security it gave the family.
• Icelandic heritage including family
events, and the Icelandic Club, and
Nordic Festival.
• Camping, hiking, and fishing trips.
• Traveling, especially the Iceland trip in
1967 with Sue and Inga, and Europe
at sixty years old with a twenty-five
pound back-pack on their backs.
• Spending time with family, and
extended family.
• Currently, their Yuma adventures.
Thank you
The Jon sigurdsson Chapter IODE
would like to thank all those who
attended their Fall Bridge and Whist
dessert Party on October 2 at
Betelstadur, Winnipeg, and helped
again to make it a great success. Also
many thanks to our friends at
Betelstadur who helped us with our
preparations. The winners of the Bridge
and Whist were:
Bridge:
lst—DeeDee Westdal
2nd—Barry Ursell
3rd—Vic Wainwright
4th—Frank Wilson Sr.
Whist:
Ist—Bertha Halson
2nd—Ollie Chamber
3rd—May Hunter
Arnason
Continued from page 1
scholarly purpose also gives focus to
the department that an office and build-
ing alone can’t do.
More exciting programs are in the
offing. The department now has hired a
young Icelandic professor from
Iceland, Kristin Jóhanssdóttir, on a
one-year contract. Dr. Amason hopes it
will be possible for her to stay on for
another. Jóhanssdóttir will teach two
new evening courses after Christmas—
one on the culture of Iceland—featur-
ing Icelandic films, novels, music, art,
and architecture; the other, from
Christmas to April, a study of Nobel
Prize winner Halldór Laxness’s novels.
Independent People is one of the
world’s best-selling books, translated
into thirty-five different languages and
a bestseller in China and Russia. Dr.
Amason hopes people will come out
and read his books in the English trans-
lation.
As the newest member of the VIP
cabinet, I was intrigued by both the
scope and thoroughness of the vision
for an expanded, vibrant resource to
serve members of the Canadian
Icelandic community, the university
faculty, and students and the communi-
ty at large.
Ken ’s maternal grandparents,
Ragnheiöur Jónsdóttir and
Guðmundur Asmundsson, emigrated
from the East Fjords of Iceland to
Canada in 1888, residing initially in
the Geysir Settlement of New Iceland,
and moved to Selkirk, Manitoba in
1895. Ken received B.A. (Honours)
and M.A. degrees from the University
of Manitoba.
Minnist
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