Lögberg-Heimskringla - 05.12.2003, Síða 14

Lögberg-Heimskringla - 05.12.2003, Síða 14
page 14 » Lögberg-Heimskringla « 5 December 2003 “Any man’s death diminishes me,for 1 am involved in mankind ... No man is an island, entire of himself. ”—John Donne • “Maður er manns gaman.”—Hávamál Spotlighting lives lived and milestones in the lives of Icelandic North Americans. Jóna Is Meeting Her People “ T t was strange for me to come J-to Willow Point after reading about this treacherous trip,” Jóna Valgerður Höskuldsdóttir said as we sat in the sunroom at Frank and Helle Wilson’s home in Charleswood overlooking a great expanse of lawn. “I can never understand how anyone came out alive from these horri- ble circumstances.” Jóna’s fírst trip to Canada was with Jónas Þór’s first group that went from Wisconsin to Hecla Island and many places in between. Then she did not know her Canadian cousins. “Helle and I were digging a new bed in the garden here,” she said, pointing to a flowerbed beside the garage, “and I felt I had a small touch of what those early pioneers had to do.” Símon Símonarson was her great grandfather’s brother. “The fírst house that Símon built was two fífths the size of this room,” she said indicating the size with her arm, “and in it lived six people, two couples and two children. And Símon said it was a palace compared to the tent they had been living in.” Jóna was bom in Isafjörður, but her family comes from all across the north of Iceland. She studied nursing, and worked as a nurse until 1996. She and her late husband Gísli Hildibrandur Guðlaugs-son had fíve children, four girls and one boy. They lived for some years in Denmark in Oðinsvé, where Gísli studied engineering. The last forty years she has lived in Garðabær. In her retirement, her pas- sions are quilt making, garden- ing, tree planting, carving and minding her grandchildren. She and her siblings enjoy frí- tíma vitma (vacation time work) planting all kinds of trees at Amardalur, an abandoned farm in Skutulsfjörður in the West Fjords. There the weather is hard and the soil not very good “But perhaps one day there will be a forest there,” she says hopefully. Jóna began to meet her Canadian cousins in rather an odd fashion. Johanna Wilson was in Iceland, to visit a mutual relative, with whom she had corresponded for years. The deceased woman’s daughter called Jóna to fínd out how she could reach Johanna, as her mother just passed away, and insisted she must meet Johanna. But Jóna was leaving on her trip to Canada. Fortunately, they managed to meet briefly. And Johanna arranged for her son Frank to meet Jóna while she was in Winnipeg, and so has begun a friendship. On the first trip to Canada, she saw much landscape and whetted her appetite for more. On this trip she is meeting her people. She is finding them on every side of her family. In Winnipeg she met Shirley Wright, sister to Barbara (Johannesson) Hoffman of Edmonton, whose sons took her to Iceland for her seventieth birthday. They are related through Asmundur and Jónasína. She has stayed with Einar and Rosalind Vigfusson at Arborg, Johanna and Frank and Helle. There are so many more, spread all over Canada. She is already dreaming about her next trip when she wants to go to Saskatchewan and Alberta as well. Þorlákur Arnason, brother to her grand- father, settled in Tantallon, SK. She met Luella Hamel, grand- daughter of Þorlákur and Steinunn and her daughter Gail Kennedy at Frank’s house. When asked what she found interesting about the Canada she has seen and met, she said sterkt “íslenskt sam- félag.” - the strong Icelandic connection, and the absolutely “hrein íslenska” - pure Icelandic - that the Canadians speak. “Eldra fólk og margir miðaldra líka tala bara lítalaust mál,” she said. She thinks it’s great that so many are studying the lan- guage. And thought the per- formance of the Iceland Youth Choir she attended in Iceland remarkable. She said their ‘framburður ” (pronunciation) was excellent. Jóna is one of those Icelanders who are “creating community” as between Iceland and Canada. She is reading about the trials and tribulations of those who left, she is meeting their descendants, she is leam- ing to know us in the new coun- try, then and now. It is an exciting project, and exciting to see the circle widen and widen. - -----------------\ CUW A Complete Line of Parts and Accessories for Cars, Trucks and Farm Equipment Main Street South Arborg, Manitoba ROC OAO 376-2667 Bruce Sigurdson, Owner v J Iceland She stands there all alone In the North Adantic sea. Her name is Maid of Mountains; Was born a queen to be. The polar breezes fan her, The breakers lave her feet. Aurora Borealis Enwrap her in their sheet. Her royal diadem, wrought From dew out of the sky, With queenly grace she carries And queenly dignity. If she looks cold and haughty Her heart is large and warm. Apd when in burning passion Her children feel alarm. his poem is from the poet’s collection Kvœði, published in Winnipeg in 1948 by his children. Bjami wrote this poem for his grandson John B. Thorsteinsson, an electrical engineer who was at one time the vice president of the electri- cal manufacturing firm FPE Pioneer Ltd., and chief of the Province of Manitoba’s Energy Conservation section. In that capacity he was responsible for the development and direction of energy conservation pro- grams in Manitoba, as well as for conservation programs under the Canada-Manitoba energy agreement. John gradu- ated in 1953 from the University of Manitoba. He joined Pioneer Electric in 1954, and remained with them until 1975. John is the son of Bjami’s eldest son Jón, who was also an electrical engineer. He worked as the relay engineer for the Winnipeg Electric Co. John’s grandfather Bjarni was bom at Höfn í Borgarfirði She strongly warns her children From sloth and idleness; And teaches them the struggle Is a means to happiness. She lets her Saga tell them Of many a hero son, Who fought on valiandy Till victory was won. Industrious and progressive; At peace with every one, She keeps content and happy Though gold mine she has none. Her treasure is her Sagas And Edda’s ancient lore; In world-wide fame enwrapped Today and evermore. Eftir Bjarna Þorsteinsson frá Höfn eystra in 1868. He married Björg Jónsdóttir in 1898. They emigrated to Canada in 1903. They lived first in Winnipeg where at first Bjami worked with Canada Immigration as a translator - he spoke the Scandinavian languages and German in addition to Icelandic. After a few years the family moved to Selkirk. They had five children, Jón, Anna, Þorsteinn, Jóhann and Helga. Bjarni worked as a profes- sional photographer. He had trained in Copenhagen before coming to Canada. He took thousands of photographs and published several books. f Aff... 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