The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2006, Blaðsíða 16

14
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 60 #1
many lectures and had a large household.
My parents lived with us until they died.
We brought up three daughters. Margret
Holmfrldur, the daughter of Bjorn Blondal
and Bjorg Bjornsdottir, Halldorssonar
from Ulfsstadir in Lodmundarfjordur in
Nordur-Mulasysla in Iceland. I took her
when she was sixteen months when her
mother died and raised her as my own. She
has five living children.
Anna Gudrun Holmfrldur, the daugh-
ter of Wilhelm Kristjansson and Trudur
Gudmundsson, they both died in the
Spanish flu epidemic in 1918. She was 20
months old when she came to us and we
took the place of her parents. She had one
son. (Later she had two daughters, infor-
mation from Johanna Wilson).
Johanna Gudrun is our own daughter.
She married an English man, has always
lived in the family home, she has three tal-
ented children.
The evening of my life.
Now I have come to the evening of my
life. Everyone has been very good to me.
When I retired from the position of presi-
dent of the Jon Sigurdsson Chapter, I was
honored by the chapter by making me a life
member of the Provincial IODE chapter,
to which the Jon Sigurdsson chapter
belongs, I had been an officer in my chap-
ter for 20 years. I am therefore a life mem-
ber now in four organizations, that is an
honour I feel I cannot express my gratitude
for well enough. Great gifts I have been
given, but it is the love and friendships that
have accompanied me all my life, that I
appreciate most, and hope to enjoy to the
end of my days. ”
Many here may remember Johanna
Gudrun Skaptason. In the Icelandic
Canadian in 1960 there is an article/obitu-
ary written by W. Kristjanson after
Gudrun passed away in October, 1960.
Many memorial articles were written about
both siblings, Valtyr and Gudrun. After
Valtyr’s death, many memorials were writ-
ten in the Scandinavian countries, and in
1960, the year he would have turned 100,
most of the Icelandic papers ran articles on
him, and two lengthy articles appeared in
Logberg-Heimskringla.
Gudrun Skaptason
His biography which was published
last year, concludes with these words: “In
my estimation he was Iceland's most
important politician in the 19th century,
other than Jon Sigurdsson.”
Gudrun was respected and revered
here in the West and the same is true in
Iceland. She is written about in many
places after her death. I mentioned earlier
that Gudrun visited Iceland at age 80 along
with her granddaughter. The travelogue
she delivered at the Icelandic Canadian
Club still exists and it is amazing how
many she appears to have known in Iceland
and how many knew her. Jonas Jonsson
from Hrifla, one of Iceland's best known
politicians and former cabinet members,
chauffeured her around the capital and
showed her important cultural places. She
visited the bishop, leaders of womens'orga-
nizations, men in the business life, not only
in Reykjavik, but all across the country,
because although one is 80 years old one is
able to tackle travelling on poor roads and
across second rate bridges. She was clearly
a welcome guest wherever she went.