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Memorable Manitobans: Bjorn Thorlaksson Jonasson (1884-1966)
Farmer, municipal official.
Born at Myvatnssveit, Iceland on 20 October 1884, son of Thorlakur Jonasson (1849-1928) and Kristrun Jonasson (1845-?), brother of Jonas Thorlaksson Jonasson, the family immigrated to Canada in 1893. He was a pioneer farmer of the the Moosehorn Bay district, which he suggested be renamed to Silver Bay to avoid confusion with the village of Moosehorn. A founding trustee (1912-1930s) of the Silver Bay School District, he also served the Rural Municipality of Siglunes as a founding Councillor (1919-1950, Ward Five) and Reeve (1950-1961), retiring in December 1961.
He was a Honourary Life Member of the Union of Manitoba Municipalities and returned to his native Iceland twice, making the trip to accompany his blind brother Jonas in 1961, and a second time on his own, in 1965. On 23 October 1908, he married Kirstjana Petursson (1880s-1958) at Baldur and had three children: Arnthor Jonasson (b 1911), Kristjan “Kriss” Jonasson (b 1912), and Maria H. Jonasson (b 1918, wife of Jon Sigurdson).
He suffered a heart attack in February 1966 and died at Ashern on 18 April 1966.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Betel Cemetery (Silver Bay, RM of Siglunes)
Sources:
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 20 April 1966, page 42.
Winnipeg Estate file 1189/66, Bjorn Thorlaksson Jonasson, Archives of Manitoba.
Taming a Wilderness - A History of Ashern and District by the Ashern Historical Society, 1976.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 21 September 2014
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