The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1971, Page 15

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
13
JON KRISTINN LAXDAL
The committee meeting had been
a stormy one; it seemed that each and
every member not only had the perfect
solution to the problem at hand but
was prepared to present it in detail.
One man listened with visible growing
impatience, then waded into the tor-
rent of talk. His remarks were terse
and went to the root of the matter.
Shortly the rumblings of dissension
faded away like thunder on a summer
afternoon. In an undertone one com-
mittee-member remarked, “Trust John
to find the shortest distance between
point A and point B.”
This episode is typical of many
which occurred during J6n Laxdal’s
long period of service to his com-
munity wherever he made his home.
A burning desire possessed him to get
on with the job, to inspire his fellows
with energy and enthusiasm, to sweep
aside procrastination and fear of
failure. People of Arborg and Gimli
remember him as a tireless worker
who made order and diligence the
watchwords of their schools. Thou-
sands of teachers throughout the
province and farther afield remember
him as the alert administrator of the
Teachers College who lost sight of no
detail yet found time to sit down with
a student to listen, suggest a plan, and
finally to offer help in carrying out a
course of action. For action is what
Jon demanded: merely to wait for
whatever chance might bring was
quite intolerable.
Here is the answer for those who
wonder at the amount of work Jon
accomplished. Here is the reason why
Jon Kristinn Laxdal
this busy man was sought out by in-
dividuals and groups anxious to carry
out some project. When they needed
a driving-force they turned to Jon.
He seldom refused.
Jon Laxdal’s career cannot be fully
traced in an article of this length.
But his many friends will find a cer-
tain pleasure in recalling some of the
highlights, familiar though they may
be.
Jon was born October 7, 1900, in
northern Iceland. At the age of
eleven he followed his parents to Can-
ada where they had settled in Sask-