Educator, community activist.
Born on a farm in the Rural Municipality of Stanley on 8 February 1935, youngest of three children of Kristbjorg Helgason (1902-1968) and Haldor Benedict Olafson (1890-1983), her 39-year teaching career including service at Deer Creek School (1954-1955) and Debonair School (1955-1956). In 1956, she married Roy Holenski. They had no children. She taught at Earl Grey School (1956-1962) and Harrow School (?-?) until retirement in 1993. Active in coaching, managing, and building the sport of women’s softball, she was team leader of Softball Canada’s national team and she led the Canadian delegation at the Pan Am Games and Sydney Olympics (2000). In recognition of her service to the sport, she was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (2009), Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame, and Softball Canada Hall of Fame. She died at the Grace Hospital on 15 April 2023.
Marriage registration [Kristbjorg Helgason, Haldor Bendict Olafson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Kristbjorg Olafson], Winnipeg Free, 11 June 1968, page 32.
Obituary [Haldor Benedict Olafson], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 January 1983, page 45.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 22 April 2023.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 22 April 2023
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