Educator.
Born in North Dakota on 22 November 1898, son of Arni and Elizabeth Helgason, he came to Manitoba with his family in 1899 and settled on a farm in the Morden area. He was educated at Diamond School and received further education at Wesley College, University of Manitoba, and Winnipeg Normal School.
After returning to teach at Diamond School (?-?), he served as Principal of Balmoral School (1923-1925), Winnipeg Beach School (1925-1929), Rapid City School (1929-1937), and Stony Mountain School (1937-1943); teacher at Teulon School (1943-1945); and Principal of Morris School (1945-1947), Starbuck School (1947-1950), Goose Lake School (1950-1951), Kelwood School (1951-1953), North Kildonan School (1953-1958), Lord Kitchener School (1958-1959), and Lincoln School (1960-1963).
In March 1963, he was appointed Supervising Principal of the Kirkfield School District No. 30. He served as School Superintendent of the Assiniboine North School Division until retirement in 1969. He served in several executive positions with the Manitoba Teachers’ Society. In 1967, his contributions to education in Manitoba were recognized with a Canada Centennial Medal.
On 22 August 1925, he married Ivy Annabelle Mollard (1904-2002) at Balmoral. They had three children. He was a member of the Civic Caledonian Curling Club and Masons.
He died at Winnipeg on 2 November 1978.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Marriage registration [John Sigfus Helgason, Ivy Annaelle Mollard], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Kirkfield Park School District No. 30 (Kirkfield Park School) - Daily Registers, GR9926, Archives of Manitoba.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 3 Novembe 1978, page 52.
Obituary [Ivy Annabelle Helgason], Winnipeg Free Press, 31 January 2002.
We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 6 October 2024
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