Lögberg-Heimskringla - 22.04.2005, Page 12

12 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 22 April 2005
Muriel St. John Lefebvre
Winnipeg, MB
We are celebrating the
life of an altruistic
and extraordinary
woman, Lillian Vilborg Bjar-
nason MacPherson. She was
a daughter, a sister, a wife,
a mother, a niece, an aunt, a
grandmother, a friend, an intel-
lectual, a professor, a lawyer, a
librarian, a writer, a shaman, a
drummef, a singer.
Lillian was a member of
the Saga Singers in Edmonton
from 1969. She was a lover of
jazz, folk, and classical music.
She once described her tastes
as “catholic.” She was also a
lover of many cultural groups:
the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the
Winnipeg Chamber Music So-
ciety, the Winnipeg Jazz Group,
and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet,
among many others. She was
a great lover of the theatre and
the plays of her son Ame, and
daughter-in-law Deb, and also
the films of her daughter Erika
and those produced by her hus-
band Lome.
Lillian was so supportive
of her family and greatly loved
her grandchildren Gislina, Sol-
mund, Eva, and Zonna, not to
mention her nieces, nephews,
and cousins. As a non-family
member, I saw this love in how
she spoke of her relatives.
Lillian and I have been
friends for over thirty years. I
first met her in April 1971 at
the University of Alberta Law
Library in Edmonton. She had
invited me to the Faculty Club
as I was to be the new Law
Research Librarian. I found
Lillian in the Law Library sur-
rounded by students all asking
her research questions. I was
awestruck by the sight: Lillian
standing in the middle of a host
of law students answering all
their questions. She was cool,
calm, and collected. This scene
has never left me.
I have seen similar scenes
elsewhere: Lillian at CALL
conferences surrounded by
her colleagues soliciting her
opinions about our profession;
Lillian seated in a circle in a
university classroom answer-
ing questions about feminist
legal theory; and Lillian with
a group of Icelanders inquiring
about her writings in the Ice-
landic bi-weekly newspaper,
Lögberg-Heimskringla.
Lillian had a strong capac-
ity for problem-solving and
enormous wisdom. She had a
bright mind and after having
met her father, Hafsteinn, I
realized she came by this trait
honestly. Lillian was also a
gentle and mild-mannered soul
and after meeting her mother,
Lillian Sr., it was apparent she
came by this trait just as hon-
estly.
Lillian loved to travel. Over
the years, we travelled many
times together for business
and for pleasure. We shared
so many laughs on our travels.
She loved to laugh. Even in her
illness, she never lost her rich,
warm, contagious sense of hu-
mour.
Over the course of her life-
time, Lillian has received many
honours and awards. She was
an early Honoured member of
CALL/ACBD, as she had been
a longtime servant of our or-
ganization: as Newsletter Edi-
tor in 1978, Executive Board
member from 1975 to 1983,
including a term as President
from 1979 to 1981, and as an
active participant on a host of
committees and groups too nu-
merous to mention.
There were a number of
other honours of which Lillian
and her family and friends were
most proud: The University of
Alberta Faculty of Law Build-
ers’ Award and the Queen’s Ju-
bilee Award. She was also very
pleased to leam, just recently,
of the decision to publish her
editorials from Lögberg-Heim-
skringla. She was also given
the title Editor Emeritus.
At the dinner in Lillian’s
honour at the University of
Alberta Faculty Club on Sep-
tember 29, 1999, the following
words were said of Lillian:
“Lillian joined the Univer-
sity of Alberta as the Assistant
Law Librarian in 1970, and
upon completion of her LL.B.
she was appointed Law Librar-
ian. She also taught Women
and the Law during her ten-
ure as Law Librarian. In 1990
she was named Assistant Dean
(Alumni Affairs). Lillian was
instrumental in developing the
Weir Memorial Law Library
into one of the best academic
law libraries in Canada. Lil-
lian was a mentor to librarians
across the country and to young
faculty members. She was very
active in forging links between
the Law Society of Alberta and
the University of Alberta.”
As a trained shaman, Lil-
lian saw people suffering and
wanted to help. She saw the
souls of people and brought
out the best in them. She had
súch a strong capacity for com-
passion and love. She is a role
model for us all.
Lillian, our lives have been
enhanced by having had the
honour, the privilege, and the
good fortune to have known
you. We will miss you so very
much. Adieu - au revoir et avec
beaucoup d’amour.
Lillian Vilborg MacPher-
son died at her home in Winni-
peg on Sunday, April 3, 2005.
Muriel St. John Lefebvre
is Reference Librarian & Ses-
sional Lecturer at the E.K. Wil-
liams Law Library, University
of Manitoba, Winnipeg.
Jón Örn Jónsson
Consul oflceland
in Saskatchewan
Lillian Vilborg Haf-
steinsdóttir Bjarnason
MacPherson, wife, moth-
er, amma, writer, student, schol-
ar, lawyer, librarian, editor, trav-
eler, explorer, Icelander, friend.
Lillian was all of these and
I probably left something out.
To all of us gathered here today
to celebrate her life, she was
a friend and ■ to the Icelandic
North American community at
large she was known, respected
and appreciated as the editor of
Lögberg-Heimskringla.
The editing of L-H was the
culmination of her travels and
studies in Iceland to leam her
mother tongue and explore her
roots and heritage. I remember
well her excitement when she
was granted the Icelandic gov-
emment scholarship to study
Icelandic at the University of
Iceland.
Her editorship was a water-
shed in the fortunes of L-H. For
three years Lillian, with minimal
remuneration, dedicated every
effort to make L-H a paper that
binds us together and preserves
and promotes our heritage. It
became paper worth reading
with something of interest for
everyone and has continued so
with her successor Steinþór.
I particularly looked for-
ward to her “editorials.” They
were actually not editorials in
the traditional sense. To my
mind I would describe them as
“Reflections and Ripples Upon
an Icelandic Pond.” As many
of you may know Tjömin, or
“the Pond,” is the centre and
jewel of Reykjavík, and Lillian
would walk along and across
the Pond on her way to the Uni-
versity. On these walks, I can
well imagine her ruminating
upon her roots and heritage and
experiences and impressions of
all things Icelandic.
These she expressed elo-
quently and often lyrically in
some 100 plus editorials that
in one way or another found an
Icelandic context, whether it be
world peace, the environment,
health care, education, her child-
hood in Winnipeg and Lundar,
her grandchildren and so on.
One way of describing her
weekly postings is that they ex-
pressed the sum and substance of
her Icelandicness. And Icelandic
she was and proud of it.
It was Ulú’s and my good
fortune to enjoy Lillian’s friend-
ship and company over thirty
years. That companionship has
now come to a much too early
and untimely end.
We will miss her warmth, her
infectious laughter and the wide
ranging and lively conversations
and discussions around the din-
ner table or over kajfisopi.
Her passing leaves a great
void in our community. But
she now resides with her father
Hafsteinn in Gimli, the heaven-
ly abode that our Viking ances-
tors believed all good and de-
serving Icelanders ascended to.
Vertu bless, goodbye kœra
Lillian Vilborg, we miss you
and remember you always.
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca