Funeral home owner, community activist.
Born at Winnipeg on 16 February 1940, son of Njall Ofeigur Bardal (1904-1977, son of Arinbjorn Sigurgeirsson Bardal) and Sigridur Sesslia “Sigga” Johnson (1909-1983), he joined the family undertaking business, becoming a third-generation director for the Bardal Funeral Home on Sherbrook Street. In 1980, he sold his controlling interest in the business and opened Neil Bardal Inc. He purchased the Brooklawn Crematorium two years later. In 2008, his new Funeral Home and Garden of Memories opened on Notre Dame Avenue. He served as Registrar for the provincial Board of Administration under the Embalmer’s and Funeral Director’s Act from 1979 to his retirement in 2009. His wish for a provincial school was the drive behind the creation of the Western School of Funeral Service in 1980.
On 27 October 1967, he married Annette Luke (1938-2015) at St. Mary's Cathedral and they subsequently had two sons. He served as President of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg and board member of Cycle On Life for the Riverview Health Centre Foundation. He was a proud Icelander whose dedication was recognized by the Government of Iceland with the investiture of the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Falcon in 2000, and by the Province of Manitoba by becoming a recipient of the Order of Manitoba in 2006. He received a Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002). A scholarship in his name was created by the IODE in 2008.
He died at Winnipeg on 13 February 2010. He is commemorated by Neil Bardal Memorial Park in Winnipeg.
“Bardal - Luke,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 November 1967, page 20.
Obituary [Sigridur Sesslia Bardal], Winnipeg Free Press, 16 December 1983, page 55.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 17 February 2010.
Obituary [Annette Bardal], Winnipeg Free Press, 25 July 2015.
We thank Janice Clarke for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Paul Armstrong and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 22 December 2024
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