Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.01.2019, Blaðsíða 12

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12 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • January 15 2019
FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENT
OBITUARY
Joan (Sigrid) Johnson
February 26, 1950
– December 12, 2018
It is with a great sense of
sorrow that we announce the
untimely passing of a remarkable
woman. Our beloved wife, mother,
sister and friend, Sigrid Johnson,
passed away on the evening of
Wednesday, December 12, 2018, at
the age of 68. She left us peacefully
with family by her side at the
Riverview Health Center, following
a courageous two-year battle with
cancer.
Sigrid was born February 26,
1950, in Arborg, Manitoba. The
first-born child of Snorri and Gudny
Johnson, she grew up on the family
farm near Arborg immersed in the
Icelandic language spoken by her
parents and grandparents. Prior
to Sigrid entering primary school
Icelandic was the only language
spoken in the home. Being her first
language she was able to absorb
its intricacies both naturally and
lastingly. Her mastery of the language
of her ancestry from a young age
privileged her with an ability to
deeply connect with the richness
and vitality of Icelandic culture and
history. Throughout her life, she
generously shared her knowledge
and love of all things Icelandic with
those around her. Sigrid completed
her elementary and high school in
Arborg, before going on to earn her
BA from the University of Manitoba
and BLS from the University of
Alberta. In June 1975, Sigrid began
her 43 year career at the University
of Manitoba as the Icelandic Librarian
and later the Head of the Icelandic
Collection in the Elizabeth Dafoe
Library. On December 11, 1977,
Sigrid married Robert Sproule and
together they raised three children.
She was a devoted wife and mother,
who selflessly put her family above
everything else. Throughout her
career Sigrid was very involved
in the Icelandic community. She
was former co-editor/editor of
the Icelandic Canadian magazine,
former president of the Icelandic
National League of North America,
former director on the board of
the Canada Iceland Foundation,
and former board member of the
Icelandic Festival of Manitoba.
Over the years Sigrid travelled to
Iceland on numerous occasions
for both business and pleasure.
In recognition of her impressive
career and contributions to the
Icelandic community, Sigrid was
honoured with the University of
Manitoba Outreach Award (1992);
the government of Iceland’s
Order of the Falcon (2000); the
University of Manitoba Long
Service Award (2001); was selected
Íslendingadagurinn’s Fjallkona
(2003); and most recently received
the Jon Sigurdsson Chapter of the
IODE Good Citizenship Award (2018).
Sigrid was a dedicated woman
who truly loved what she did. After
she was diagnosed with cancer in
August 2016, Sigrid continued to
work at the Icelandic Collection for
as long as her health permitted. She
officially retired in August 2018.
Sigrid was predeceased by
her parents, infant son Andrew
Neal; uncle Kjartan Johnson; and
uncles (and their wives) Kristjan
and Kristin Johnson, Hermundur
and Thora Jonasson, and Alli and
Bjorg Laxdal. Sigrid leaves behind
so many wonderful memories to be
cherished by her husband Robert;
children – Meghan, Michael and
Matthew; brothers Brian (Loretta
Kermaschuk) and Lorne; and
brothers-in-law John Sproule (Jane)
and Donald Sproule (Christine
Norman). Sigrid also leaves behind
her aunt, Valdina Johnson, and
many cousins.
The family would like to extend
a heartfelt thanks to all those who
had a part in Sigrid’s health care,
to Dr. Harris and the nurses at the
Grace Hospital Cancer Centre who
saw to her treatment, to the home
care nurses whom she saw both at
home and at the Fort Garry Access
Centre home care clinic, to the staff
at the Grace Hospital who cared for
her during the nearly three months
she spent in hospital this autumn, to
the palliative care nurses and home
care aids who made it possible for
her to return home, and to the staff
at the Riverview Health Centre who
looked after her in her final days.
“Love you Mom.” Góða nótt
elsku Sigrid.
NEIL BARDAL FUNERAL CENTRE
204-949-2200
neilbardalinc.com
Stefan Jonasson
Remarks at the annual
scholarship ceremony of the
Jon Sigurdsson Chapter IODE
Let me begin by
congratulating all of you
whose scholarship is
being recognized today while
commending your families,
who have supported you this
far along your journey.
Now, I realize that many
of you receiving scholarships
today, perhaps most of you, are
not of Icelandic heritage. The
same is true for some of the
members of the Jon Sigurdsson
Chapter itself. So I hope you
will indulge me as I reflect upon
the Icelandic roots of this most
distinctive of all IODE chapters
and the history of scholarship
among the Icelandic people on
both sides of the Atlantic.
The Jon Sigurdsson Chapter
IODE was established 103 years
ago by a group of determined
Icelandic Canadian women
under the energetic leadership
of Gudrun Skaptason, whose
husband, Joseph (or J.B.), was
serving overseas as a captain in
the Canadian Army during the
First World War. Organized just
weeks after women had won
the right to vote in Manitoba,
the chapter brought together
Icelandic women across the
common divides of politics,
religion, education, and social
class. These women worked
together to contribute to the war
effort by devoting themselves
to serving the needs of soldiers
and their families, both during
the war and in the years that
followed. In choosing to
name their chapter in honour
of the Icelandic patriot Jón
Sigurðsson, whether knowing
it or not, they set the stage for
their later mission to encourage
citizenship and scholarship.
While Jón Sigurðsson
is generally remembered as
the father of the Icelandic
independence movement in
the 19th century, he was also
one of the most noteworthy
Icelandic scholars of the era.
Indeed, there would have been
no independence movement
without scholarship as its
foundation. Although he
returned to Iceland regularly
as a member of its restored
parliament, Alþingi, from
1845 until his death in 1879,
he lived most of his adult life
in Copenhagen, while Iceland
was subject to the Danish
king, where he was secretary
and then president of the
Icelandic Literary Society,
editor and principal contributor
of the magazine Ný félagsrit,
and secretary of the Arna-
Magnæan Commission, which
was responsible for preserving
and studying the ancient
Icelandic manuscripts. He was
also involved in the work of
the Royal Nordic Society of
Antiquaries, where he was
keeper of the records, and the
Royal Danish Academy of
Sciences and Letters. Although
not a lawyer himself, Jón
Sigurðsson is arguably the
foremost legal scholar in the
history of Iceland, having
compiled and co-authored
the commentaries for the
17-volume history of the laws
of Iceland. He collaborated with
the distinguished ethnographer
Svend Grundtvig in producing
the volume Old Icelandic
Ballads and he wrote several
introductions to the scholarly
works of others. There were
few subjects related to Iceland
and its history in which Jón
Sigurðsson did not take a
scholarly interest.
Such devotion to scholarship
was already a long-established
tradition by the time of Jón
Sigurðsson, so he came by
his passion naturally. Iceland
is arguably the first country
in the world whose roots are
documented in history, rather
than the subject of stories that
predate history as we know it.
Landnámabók, the Book of
Settlements, documents the
settlement of Iceland in the
9th and 10th centuries, naming
the first people to claim land
on the island following its
discovery. Íslendingabók, the
Book of Icelanders, provides
a concise but reasonably
thorough account of the main
events of the country’s history
from the time of its founding
until early in the 12th century.
Written by Ari Þorgilsson,
commonly known as Ari the
Wise, Íslendingabók included
accounts of the settlement
period, the establishment of a
lawful society, the founding of
Alþingi, the country’s national
assembly, the determination
of the Icelandic calendar, the
creation of the country’s four
regional divisions, the discovery
and settlement of Greenland,
the conversion of Iceland to
Christianity, and the history of
the early Christian era.
Ari the Wise set the stage for
subsequent Icelandic scholars,
including Sæmundur Sigfússon
the Wise, who studied at
the Sorbonne in France and
established Iceland’s first
school at Oddi, and Snorri
Sturluson, who is believed to
have compiled the Prose Edda,
a collection of ancient wisdom
literature, and who wrote
Heimskringla, the history of the
Norwegian kings. In addition to
being remembered as a scholar,
Sæmundur the Wise is also
the subject of much folklore
about his magical abilities and
reputation for having outwitted
the devil himself.
A heritage of learning and wisdom
... continued on page 14
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