Sigurður & Sigurbjörg Kristjanson
The Siggi and Sigga
Kristjanson family
On Dec. 20, 1898 Siggi married Sigurbjörg Þórðardóttir who was born at Fremrinýpur in Norður-Múlasýsla on Mar. 2, 1879. Sigurbjörg had to come to Canada with her family in 1882. They stopped in Kinmount, Ontario where her mother died giving birth to a son. The boy survived, but was immediately adopted by a Scottish couple, because the father would have been unable to care for four young children. Sigga never again saw or heard of her brother.
The remainder of the family settled in Saskatchewan while Sigga was cared for by her aunt and uncle in the Geysir district. She was never again united with her family. She met and married Siggi while she was working in Winnipeg. The couple moved to Gimli in 1899.
Sigga was very found of painting and her family still owns several of her paintings. She sang in choirs, and was active in the campaign to give women the right to vote. She was a member of the Unitarian Church and its Ladies Aid Society.
In 1908, the family experienced a tragedy when they lost their two-story house was consumed by fire. Sigga was in the barn milking her cows, and the three children were still in bed. She noticed smoke pouring from the house, so she made her way upstairs carried two children out and laid them in the snow. She went back in, this time crawling on the floor. She was able to save the baby just in time, as the floor collapsed behind them. The family lost everything, but were befriended by Mrs. Victoria Sigurgeirson who gave them shelter for the rest of the winter. Siggi was out on the lake fishing at the time.
Siggi and Sigga Kristjanson had 6 children:
Kristín Ingibjörg (Teenie) married Holman Olson. They resided at Selkirk MB and had three children, Walter, Olive, and Holman Jr.
Jóhanna Magnúsína (Hanna) married Edwin Jonasson and settled in Gimli; they had no children.
Sæberg Helgi married Groa Isfjord and they two resided in Gimli with their four children, Sonny, Iris, Vivian, and Margaret Rose.
Sigbjörg Valdina married Peter Peterson. They resided in Gimli and had two children: Allan and Lorraine.
Hannes married Sophie Slobodian. They also lived in Gimli and had 2 children: Beverly and Edwin.
I, Theodore (Ted) (b. May 30, 1912), married Annie Slobodian, reside in Gimli, and have three children: Robert, Kenneth, and Richard.
My dad Siggi passed away Oct. 15, 1952, and my mom Sigga followed on Nov. 24, 1961.