The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1961, Qupperneq 35

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
33
Hannes Pctnrsson, Builder, Contractor, Passes Away
Hannes Petursson
Hannes Petursson, builder and con-
tractor, died in the Winnipeg General
Hospital on June 9, after a lengthy
illness. He was the son of Petur
Bjbrnsson and Margret Bjornsdottir of
SkagafjorSur in Iceland. In 1883, when
Hannes was two years old, his parents
migrated to North Dakota with their
four sons Bjorn, Rognvaldur, Olafur
and Hannes, and a daughter, who died
about a month after their arrival in
Pembina. In the spring of 1903 Petur
Bjornsson moved to what came to be
called “Vatna’byggSir” in Sask. He
and his son Olafur filed on homesteads
that year, and Hannes the following
year, in the Kristnes district north-
west of Foam Lake.
Hannes Petursson taught school in
both North Dakota and Saskatchewan.
In 1906 he moved to Winnipeg and
worked for a while in a bank. He then
went into the real estate business and
soon afterwards the -three brothers
Rognvaldur, Olafur and Hannes form-
ed the Union Loan and Investment
Co. Ltd. Olafur and Hannes were the
active members of the company and
they entered into the building and
construction industry on, what was in
those days, a fairly large scale.
On July 2, 1906 Hannes Petursson
married Tilly Anna Chisholm, a
daughter of Charles and Thorbjorg
(Guttormsdottir) Chisholm of North
Dakota. They had one daughter,
Maria, Mrs. Robert Louis Stephenson,
now residing in Vancouver, B. C.
Three children were adopted, Walter
and Fred Vatnsdal of Winnipeg, and
Olof, Mrs. D. Gauthier of San Fran-
cisco. There are thirteen grandchild-
ren. .
Hannes Petursson was the last of a
number of unusually well gifted Ice-
landers who occupied the scene in our
Winnipeg Icelandic activities during
the first third of the present century.
During that period of time most of
our organizations and undertakings,
national, of the spirit, and material,
came into being or were reinforced
in so far as they had existed before.
The Icelandic National League, PjoS-
rasknisfelagiS, and the History of the
Icelanders of the West, Saga Islend-
inga i Vesturheimi, originated during
this period. The four Petursson bro-
thers made their ample contribution.
In that period of marked activities
under strong leaderships there were
bound to be some conflicts. But those
who take over can see what was ac-
complished. As they reap the benefits
they forget the heat of discussion and
with bowed heads pay their last respects
to the men and women who so bravely
and with such vigor and enthusiasm
laid the foundation strong and true.
-W. J. L.