The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.2004, Síða 35

Vol. 58 #4
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
181
Arinbjorn Sigurgeirsson Bardal
by Agnes Bardal Comack and Svava Bardal Kerr
My father (1866-1951) was the founder
of the funeral home at 843 Sherbrook St in
Winnipeg that still bears his name but is no
longer owned by a family member.
He was better known, probably, as
“A.S.” I wrote an article about him,
pubished in Logberg Heimskringla, Jan
17,1986.
Recently, I came across a character
sketch written by my sister, Svava, and it is
interesting to realize how different her life
had been from mine. She grew up in the
family home (which was then at 676
McDermot Ave) surrounded by Icelandic
neighbours. Svava and my older siblings,
Alla, Emilia, Njall, and Karl all spoke
Icelandic when they started in Somerset
School on Sherbrook Street.
When I was born in 1921, the family
had moved to Kildonan where we were the
only Icelandic family. During my child-
hood, my father was an older, well estab-
lished undertaker. I was the fifteenth of his
sixteen childen. Two had been born to his
first wife, who had died before the turn of
the century along with a young daughter.
The second child, Alla, was 5 1/2 years old
when he married my mother, Margret
Ingibjorg Olafsdottir, in 1900. Three of her
fourteen babies also died.
The following are the notes that Svava
recorded for the benefit of the younger
members of our family describing the
father she knew. The words in brackets are
mine.
“Pabbi was an extreme extrovert, a
happy devout Christian. We always knew
when he was home. He spread the joy of
being alive to one and all. He was a real
showman. He loved playing the clown'
especially when he was with “stuffed
shirts.” I always envied his unconcern with
what people thought. He was completely
himself at all times, in any company.
Pabbi was a real Taurus, born April 22.
He appeared placid but would rip adver-
saries to pieces with plain blunt language.
He-was tough, sentimental, affectionate
but wary of those offering something for
nothing. He expected to pay the piper and
usually fulfilled this.
Some early memories: Halloween - I
well remember shooting off firecrackers
from the roof of the funeral home at 843
Sherbrook. He always had a large collec-
tion of rockets etc.
The horse and buggy era: Sunday dri-
ves from our home at 676 McDermot Ave.
were special events. His Icelandic ponies
pulled a small cart full of kids. We'd drive
all over Winnipeg singing “O Canada” at
the top of our lungs. Pabbi did not approve
of the census takers calling us “Icelanders.”
He told us we were “Canadians” but he'd
tell every one who would listen that his
ponies came from Iceland.
His first motor car: We had to be very
quiet because Pabbi was so nervous. Later
this changed, as we all knew so well. (His
driving habits were hair-raising at times.)
Our schooling: Pabbi wanted us all to
be scholars. He had missed out there as he
never did attend achool. He felt that, being
his children, we were all very clever. He
always cooperated with the school.
However, when there was trouble, he
would hear one side of the story. One
teacher was very sadistic. I remember Njall
(1904-1977) getting the strap. His wrists
were all marked. Pabbi went down to the
school and told the teacher he had better be
more careful in the future. At that time, I
remember being so proud of my big, hand-
some father.
A yearly event was arranged by Pabbi
when student nurses from the Winnipeg
General Hospital came to our home in
North Kildonan to toboggan on the river
bank (Svava graduated from nursing in
1927.)
Pabbi the Patriarch: He was a very
devoted and loving husband. He always