The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1974, Qupperneq 13

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
11
JOHN VICTOR SAMSON
John V. Samson
May 26, 1909 — P'ebruary 7, 1947
John Victor Samson, the business
manager of the Icelandic Canadian
magazine, passed away in Winnipeg on
February 9, this year. Until the last
weeks before his death he had been
in good health and active in his work.
John was a native of the City of
Winnipeg, where he came to serve as
alderman and member of both the
Police Commission and the Board of
Parks and Recreation. He was the
descendant of Icelandic pioneers in
Manitoba. Among his ancestors in Ice-
land was Jon Samsonarson, an out-
standing statesman in his country.
Therefore, one may say that John’s
abiding interest in public affairs, as
well as his willingness to serve his com-
munity, were, at least in part, in-
herited.
John’s career as a printer began
in the later 1920’s with Dlafur S. Thor-
geirsson and Co., and in 1930 with
Viking Press in Winnipeg. In 1949,
he and his brother-in-law, bought the
Viking Press and changed its name to
Viking Printers. Their firm grew to
be a successful printing house, and it
still remains one of the centres of Ice-
landic-Canadian publications. In ad-
dition to his work as manager of the
Viking Printers and previously men-
tioned duties of public office, John
had his own insurance agency, was a
member of several cultural and bus-
iness societies, and worked tirelessly
for various Icelandic-Canadian organ-
izations, where his sound guidance
was always greatly valued.
John became involved with the mag-
azine from the time it was founded.
He and Sveinn Oddsson, then a com-
positor at Viking Press, were consulted
as to the size, shape, and how the
advertising should be handled. From
that time on, John’s advice was sought
on publishing matters, as well as be-
ing the printer. He became the
Business Manager when Hjalmur
Danielson resigned from that position,
in 1968.
There are many reasons why John
Samson was held in high regard by
his friends and fellow citizens. He
possessed a pleasing personality, and
his refined sense of humour never
failed to have a salutary effect on