The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1994, Síða 19

SPRING, 1994
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
129
Dr. Sigridur (Sigga)
Christianson
Houston
by Connie Geller
(compiled from information supplied by her
son, Dr. C. Stuart Houston, and adapted from
his article "A Pioneer Woman Doctor, Sigga
Christianson Houston," published in Manitoba
Medicine, June 1993.)
Sigga Houston celebrated her
100th birthday in a Sask-
atchewan nursing home with a
vinarterta. That she celebrated a
century of living on June 28, 1993 is
a remarkable achievement in itself
but the fact that she is of Icelandic
descent and is Canada’s oldest living
female medical doctor make her saga
especially interesting to readers of
this publication. Descended from an
Icelandic family who pioneered in the
VatnabyggS area of Saskatchewan,
this remarkable woman successfully
pursued a medical degree, despite
many hardships and obstacles. She
went on to practice medicine for half a
century.
Sigridur (Sigga) Christianson was
the daughter of Geir Christianson
(born May 23, 1860) from Hafnar-
fjorbur, Iceland. He inherited the
surname Kristjansson from his father
Kristjan Jonsson but, as often
happened to new arrivals to Canada,
the spelling was Anglicized by an
immigration officer.1 Sigga’s mother
was Sesselja Rakel Sveinsdottir, who
was bom August 12, 1857 to Sveinn
Asmundsson and Sigridur Jonsdottir
of StarrastaSir, 15 km south of
VarmahliS. The family was made up
of four children, one boy and three
girls. Bill, the eldest, was born on
March 25, 1892 followed by Sigridur
(Sigga) on June 28, 1893, Halldora
(Dora) on January 13, 1896 and Bjorg
(Babs) on January 28, 1898.2
Although he was a journeyman
carpenter, Geir had worked in the
Skagafjordur hayfields as a young
man. It was there that he fell in love
with Sesselja Rakel, a member of the
crew. The following year when he
returned to the hayfields, Geir learned
that Sesselja Rakel had emigrated to
"America”. Undaunted, he obtained
passage on a ship and, in his
homespun suit, he set out to find her.
From Halifax, where the ship landed,
he took a train to “the second largest
Icelandic city in the world.” When he
arrived in Winnipeg, he inquired
around as to the whereabouts of
Sesselja Rakel. His remarkable good
luck held out. Someone in Winnipeg