The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2009, Blaðsíða 19

Vol. 62 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
161
many fond memories and is still in the
hearts and minds of the Sigurdson family.
In the year 2000 the family made a gift to
the Betel Heritage Foundation to construct
the ‘Lady of the Lake’ Room in the
Waterfront Centre at Gimli. This facility is
a theatre with extensive audio-video facili-
ties and is dedicated to the memory of the
Sigurdson’s and their families who were
involved in the fishery on Lake Winnipeg.
This room was officially opened by David
Oddsson, the Prime Minister of Iceland, on
October 22, 2000, on the anniversary of the
Icelanders landing at Willow Island in
1875. A mural was commissioned to com-
memorate the five generations of Sigurdur
Erlendsson’s descendants and is displayed
in the ‘Lady of the Lake’ Room. (The artist
Luther Pokrant is a member of the Royal
Academy of Art and a longtime friend of
our family).
Credit for the personal insight into the
early days of the family comes from Stefan
Sigurdson, son of S.V., and a grandson of
Stefan. Stefan is now the patriarch of the
family and was witness, both as a young
man and later as an active participant in the
five generations of the family business,
Sigurdson Fisheries, to the exploits of
Stefan Sigurdsson of Hnausa.
More of the Sigurdson Family:
Sigurdur Victor Sigurdson, better
known to friends and associates as S.V. was
born at Hnausa on January 23,1895 to one
of New Iceland’s oldest and best known
pioneer families. S.V. was the son of Stefan
Sigurdsson from Skogar in Mikley (Hecla
Island) born at Storu, Laugar in
Thingeyjarsysla on March 28, 1864. Stefan
was the son of Sigurdur Erlendsson and
Gudrun Eriksdottir who settled in Skogar
shortly after their arrival in New Iceland in
1876. S.V.’s mother was Valgerdur
Jonsdottir, also from Mikley.
Valgerdur had spent time in England in
the home of the famous scholar Eirikur
Magnusson, a linguist at Cambridge, and
she taught school at Mikley. A native of the
Borgarfjordur Region of Western Iceland
she was born at Svarfholl in the
Stafholstungur District on May 25, 1856.
Her brother Jon Jonsson settled at Grund
in Mikley. Oddur Jonsson, another broth-
er, settled at Gimli after traveling exten-
sively throughout North America. The sis-
ters Thuridur, Jorunn, and Thorgerdur all
married and remained in Iceland.
Kristrun, born at Hofn, near Sandy
Bar on November 12, 1896 was the daugh-
ter of Bjarni Marteinsson and Helga
Gudmundsdottir. The young couple
moved to Riverton in 1922 and in 1928
moved into a new home on the banks of the
Icelandic River. S.V.’s dream was to
become a doctor but, upon his father’s
death in 1917, he became responsible for
the family business. In 1919 he was joined
in this venture by his two young uncles,
Sigurdur R. and Stefan V. Sigurdsson. In
1922 they formed Sigurdsson Fisheries
with S.V. as president. In 1925 they bought
a small lake freighter, the Husk, from
Sveinn Thorvaldsson of Riverton, later
Consulate of
Iceland
Gordon J. Reykdal
Honorary Consul
17631 - 103 Avenue, Edmonton,
Alberta T5S 1N8 CANADA
Tel.: (780) 408-5118
Cell: (780) 497-1480
Fax: (780) 443-2653
E-mail: gord@csfinancial.ca