The Narfason Family of "Víðivöllum"
Oil Narfason
Oli Narfason
Oli Oskar Johannes Narfason was born on Aug. 29, 1925 to Elli and Runa Narfason of “Víðivöllum.” Oli gained experience fishing with local fishermen, and also worked for a short time as a lumberjack, before he joined his father and uncle in the farming operation.
He married Gudny Helga (Gwen) Johnson (b. Nov. 12, 1925-d. Nov. 30, 1982) from the Riverton/Geysir district in 1948. She worked at the Co-op Store in Riverton prior to her marriage.They had four children: Candace Lea, Janice Linda, Laureen Olina, and Clifford Erlendur.
The farm had remained as a mixed farming operation but Oli began expanding the dairy herd and worked toward having only Registered Holstein cattle. Besides the daily running of a dairy farm, many dairy shows and agricultural shows were attended and many awards taken home. Among these was the Master Breeders Shield Award from Holstein Canada in 1978. This award was won a second time in 1999. At this time Clifford was a partner and taking over the dairy operation which is now called “Narfa Farms.”
Clifford shares and even exceeds his father’s enthusiasm in producing, caring for and showing off their cattle. Not only has there been effort put into showing cows at dairy fairs but also calves mostly via the 4-H organization which both Oli’s and Clifford’s children have done during their membership years, attaining honours in this endeavour as well. Clifford had married and settled on the farm as a fourth generation Narfason before his mother’s early death in 1982.
Oli remarried on October 3, 1987, to Marjorie June Gendron. Since it was the Centennial year for the RM of Gimli, Oli and Marj chose to re-enact the Kristofersson-Taylor wedding of 1877 whereby the smallpox quarantine line of Netley Creek placed the minister on the south shore of the creek and bride and groom on the North shore. The ceremony for Oli and Marj, however, took place at Boundary Creek, the southern border of New Iceland, and they now live on Willow Creek and Hwy 9. Marjorie has four sons from a previous marriage.
Candace Lea (b. Jan 4, 1950), who obtained her Bachelors degree in Education at the U of M, and taught in Norway House prior to teaching in Australia where she now lives. She married an Australian, Robert Savage and they have two children, Cara Olwen (b. June 26 1982) and Kallum Eric (b. Oct. 17, 1985).
Janice Linda (Apr. 9, 1951), who also obtained a Bachelors degree in Education from the U of M and taught in Winnipeg before moving to Gimli where she is a teacher at the Early Middle Years School and also teaches piano and voice for students in the community. She married Cameron Arnason who also grew up in Gimli and they have three children, Signy Janelle (b. Feb. 19, 1980), Heida Diane (b. June 3, 1981), and Stefan Drew (b. Feb. 26, 1987)
Laureen Olina (Oct. 29, 1953), who took her Bachelor of Arts at the U of M and has worked mainly in Public Relations and Editing and Research, and more recently as a Research Assistant and Data Analyst at U of W, and lives in Winnipeg.
Clifford Erlendur (b. Mar. 1, 1955), who has a Diploma in Agriculture from U of M and is running the Narfa Dairy Farm with his wife and daughter and son in law. They continue to ship fluid milk to Winnipeg which places this farm as one of the longest on record in Manitoba continuously selling fluid milk as a business. They also carry on the tradition of hosting groups who are interested in seeing a dairy farm. This has been especially for groups of children but also visitors from all over the world who are in the dairy business. Clifford married Shelly Anderson from Arborg and they have four children. Krista Susan (b. Sept. 3, 1978), who was married to Jason Porteous in 1997 and they live at the farm “Víðivollum” as well. They have a son, Austin Jason, and daughter Melissa Anne (b. Sept. 6, 2001). Amber Leanne (b. Jan 20 1980) married Ashleigh (Leigh) Sylvester of Gimli in 2000. They both live and work in Gimli. The younger two are Tanis Jade (b. Oct. 22, 1982), and Dustin Shane b. Aug. 22, 1986).