The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2009, Qupperneq 9

Vol. 62 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
99
Shirley Norma McCreedy
1992 - 2009
by Johanna Wilson 8c Ingrid Slobodian
One of the most exceptional
members of the Icelandic commu
nity has passed away. Shirley
Norma McCreedy, (1922- 2009)
described as” a force of nature”
shone her bright light on the I
Icelandic Canadian
Community in Manitoba for'
many, many productive years.
And oh, how we benefited from
her enthusiasm, knowledge and
sheer determination. She had an
insatiable appetite for all things
Icelandic and pursued her quest to
share and pass on this knowledge. She laid
the foundations for a strong and vibrant
community through her passion for music,
her church work and memberships in the
Jon Sigurdsson Chapter IODE, the
Icelandic National League and Icelandic
Canadian Fron. She was a founding mem-
ber of the Scandinavian pavilion of
Folklorama and was a champion of The
Icelandic Canadian Magazine, the Icelandic
Community newspaper, Logberg-
Fleimskringla, The Viking Times, Sunrise
Camp and the hockey team, the Winnipeg
Falcons. She compiled an extensive, ongo-
ing record of achievements of people of
Icelandic heritage. This will prove invalu-
able for research in the years to come.
Shirley’s family has placed it in the archives
of the Icelandic Canadian Magazine.
A quote from the eulogy Neil Bardal
so eloquently presented at her memorial
service on April 2, 2009, sums up the
impact this wonderful woman had on
everyone she met.
“In her diminutive stature, she cast a
giant shadow in all she did or promoted.
She possessed a vision for who and what
we are as people born of the Icelanders”.
Her formative years were spent
in the west end of Winnipeg as the
third daughter ol bred & Norma
Thordarson. Every Sunday the
family attended The First
Lutheran Church on Victor and
Sargent followed by dinner at
her Amma’s on Beverley Street.
The First Lutheran church was a
busy place with a Sunday school
of over 350 children. The Sunday
school was a wonderful place for
young people and Shirley took part
in many of the activities. During the
1940’s she belonged to the Dorcas Society
of the First Lutheran Church, a junior
women’s ladies aid group.
In interviews, stored at the Provincial
Archives, conducted for the Icelandic
Canadian Fron by Laurence Gillespie in
1989, Shirley spoke of the Good Templars,
the Icelandic Amateur Theater performing
Freda Danielsson’s Moonlight on the
Mississippi, her father’s friendship with
cartoonist Charles Thorson, Dr. Siggi Jul,
Dr. Brandson, Icelandic food, Islendin-
gadagurinn celebrations in Winnipeg and
the Interlake region and wonderful church
picnics at Assiniboine Park. Later with the
St. James-Assiniboia Seniors Center
Dialogue re the Year of Older Persons she
recalled the Moonlight train arriving back
in Winnipeg after a day at Winnipeg Beach
or Grand Beach, the corner lot baseball
games, neighborhood street games and her
attendance at many hockey games. “We
rarely went to the store to shop for food.
We had a grocer and butcher who had
delivery boys traveling by bicycle to bring
our orders daily. We also had an ice-man, a
bread-man and a milk-man who poured the
milk from his milk can into our jugs.