Lögberg-Heimskringla - 18.06.2004, Qupperneq 12

12 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 18 June 2004
Monument in
Spanish Fork
strengthens
the ties
The lcelandic Association of Utah will be hon-
ouring John K. Johnson during lceland Days
2004 for his contribution to the lcelandic com-
munity. Steinþór Guðbjartsson visited him in
Spanish Fork.
Steinþór Guðbjartsson
Spanish Fork, UT
John Karl Johnson, John’s
father, built the home where
John was born and where he
now lives. He also helped
design and build the Icelandic
monument in Spanish Fork,
which was dedicated as part of
Iceland Days on August 2,
1938. The Icelandic Associa-
tion of Utah (IAU) and the
Daughters of the Utah Pio-
neers, Mount Flonette Camp at
Spanish Fork, jointly built the
monument in the shape of a
lighthouse, reflecting the sea-
faring background of the Ice-
landers, who settled in Utah.
“I remember going up
there several times when they
were building the monument,”
John K. recalls, and adds that
his father did not design the
ship on the top of the monu-
ment. “That was done by
Frank O’Brian.”
John K. has been very
active in the IAU. He was the
president from 1984 to 1985
and again from 2000 to 2004.
As a child, he participated
yearly in the Iceland Days and
when chairing the Association
he emphasized having the cel-
ebration as Icelandic as possi-
ble. But the interest faded
when he rnoved away from
Utah for a while.
“When I got back I met
Garth Smith, the president at
that time,” he says. “During
our conversation we found out
that we were both Icelandic.
He asked me how much Ice-
landic I was and when I said
half he asked why I was not
involved in the Association. I
think he was a quarter or
something like that. He invited
me to come on the board of
five or six people and soon
after I replaced him as a presi-
dent. I went to Iceland a few
years ago, but I don’t speak
Icelandic. My grandparents
spoke Icelandic and my father
spoke it quite a bit, but for
some reason it was not kept to
us.”
His two-week trip to Ice-
land was worth it, but on his
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PHOTOS: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
John K. Johnson in his “Icelandic” home in Spanish Fork.
one and only visit to Vestman-
naeyjar he had no luck.
“I went to Iceland to find
my ancestors and I found them
the last day,” he says. He got a
list of some of his ancestors
and his son, Jeífrey Adams,
who was on a mission in Ice-
land at that time, went to see
some of his relatives. “He went
to Vestmannaeyjar and when
he was there one of our rela-
tives had just died. The funeral
was going on and because of it
several relatives were there. He
was there at the right time.”
The expansion project of
the Icelandic monument in
Spanish Fork will turn the area
into an outdoor museum and
the names of the 410 Ice-
landers who moved to Utah
from 1855 to 1914 will be on
the “Wall of Honor.”
“When our children and
grandchildren go up there and
see a monument with the
names of their relatives, they
will become more tied to
them,” John says. “The monu-
ment is the stabiiizing thing. I
go by it every day, and every
day it reminds me of my her-
itage.”
Bonnie and David Ashby before the Icelandic monument.
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