ASDIS SIGRUN ANDERSON

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ASDIS SIGRUN ANDERSON Asdis Sigrun Anderson's long and blessed life of 91 years ended on Friday, December 8, 2006, in her own apartment at the Betelstadur seniors' residence in Winnipeg. A long-time resident of the Libau area and then of Winnipeg, she was predeceased by her husband, Thorsteinn Andres (Stoney) Anderson (1909-1967); her parents, Einar and Freda Guttormson; and brothers Frederick, Hinrik and Simundur Guttormson. Her life of serenity and strength was a source of inspiration to all members of her large family: her surviving siblings Birgitta, Helga, Jonas, Roberta (Bertie), Eileen, and Clifford and her sisters-in-law Carol, Christine, Margaret, and Edna; her eight children, Bryce, Gary, Louise, Sylvia, Jim, Dennis, Marjorie and Fred; her daughters-in-law Natalie Anderson, Grace Koshyk, Dianne Anderson, Nina Colwill, Vivian Anderson and Lola Anderson (1936-2001); her sons-in-law Rod MacLennan, Peter Koshyk, Gary Martin and Jim Neufeld (1940-1985); her 24 grandchildren (listed in family groupings) Heather, Cheryl and Paula; Gayle, Kenton, Jennifer, and Barbara; Andrea (1967-1999) and Graham; Jamie, Craig and Katrina; Richard, Eric and Kristen; Erla and Guy; Cheryl, Dena, Heidi and Renata; Darren, Angela and Daniel, along with all their partners. Her legacy also extends to 31 great grandchildren, and many loving nieces and nephews. Asdis was born in Winnipeg Beach on February 19, 1915 to Einar and Freda Guttormson. Her family moved to nearby Husavik for a few years and, when she was five, in a scene reminiscent of a Viking voyage of exploration, she traveled south across a 30-mile stretch of choppy Lake Winnipeg in a home-made fishing boat, rowed by her father, who moved his family to better fishing grounds in the Poplar Park area (now Libau) east of the Red River. There the family settled into a log house and grew to include ten children, supported by mixed farming and commercial fishing. Our mother often spoke of the deep sense of happiness and satisfaction she had from family work and connections at that time in her life: I loved being outdoors in the sun. I loved the sound of the wind blowing across the open fields. Dressed like a tomboy in black denim pants and canvas shoes, I worked the hayfields, and in the barn with the cattle, and I helped to split and saw wood. This work was often done side-by-side with her beloved Pabbi Einar, whose quiet strength and stoicism was obviously passed on to his daughter. Our mother has recounted some brief and carefree days as a teenage girl, strolling with her girlfriends along the nearby Sandy Point beach, in her woolen bathing suit purchased from Eaton's catalogue. Then at the age of 17, she traveled the 20 miles to Selkirk in a friend's Model T Ford car, where an Icelandic clergyman married her and our father, Stoney Anderson, whose family home was only two miles from hers. She and her new husband moved to his family home and later to their own one-room log house, living in the context of the farming and fishing lifestyle familiar to her. She soon created her own large family, giving birth to eight children by the time she was 32. While she had much joy with her husband and burgeoning family, times were tough and she had to improvise and work endless hours to keep her family fed and nurtured. Her daughter Sylvia recalls, I remember Mother doing ten tasks at once and still having time to answer our questions. Her sister Bertie marveled, I never, ever heard her complain about anything. She was a great spur to the educational successes her children achieved, encouraging us to play school on rainy days, and also often taking up our chore duties so we could get down to homework. Her dedication was genuine and steadfast. She loved, above all else, being a mother and we remain profoundly grateful to her for serving as the quiet and powerful centre to our harmonious family unit. Our mother's tender caring also extended to everyone who married or was embraced into our family: she became the Ma and then the Amma at the centre of a large world of admirers. After the loss of her husband Stoney in 1967, she moved to Winnipeg, where she utilized her talents as a nurturing mother with the Winnipeg Family Bureau. Then she began a period of providing care within our extended family, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles with her brocade carrying bag, known as her crisis bag to help out sons and daughters, as well as relatives and friends, during times of births, deaths or health crises. She also effectively served as mother figure for grandchildren in whose homes she spent years, nurturing another generation of young children. One of these grandchildren, Katrina, taped conversations with her Amma Asdis over a period of six years, then compiled the results in a remarkable personal memoir entitled Blessed: Portrait of Asdis Sigrun Anderson, which was launched at our mother's 90th birthday celebration. In her later years of tranquility, Asdis enjoyed living independently in her own apartment, visiting with her friends there and, of course, dining and visiting routinely with her family. She had a blessed old age, she often told us, surrounded by a devoted family who continued to draw strength from herand her from them. In the book her granddaughter compiled, Asdis stated, My life grows richer as each new person, each new child, joins our family nest. Her children and extended family members will continue to celebrate the richness we enjoy from membership in her nest. Pallbearers will be grandchildren, nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the name of Asdis Anderson to Children's Hospital Foundation Inc. at CE 501-840 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg Manitoba, R3A 1S1 (tel: 204-787-4000). A funeral service will be held in the First Lutheran Church at 580 Victor St. in Winnipeg on Wednesday, December 13 at 9:30 a.m., followed at about 11:00 a.m. by lunch and a short memories program at Betelstadur at 1061 Sargent Ave. (corner of Sargent Ave. and Erin St.). A family internment will take place at St. James churchyard 4 miles north of Libau.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 11, 2006