Born at Reykjavik, Iceland on 19 September 1863, he came to Manitoba in 1888 and initially lived at Glenboro, moving to Winnipeg in 1895, where he worked as a building contractor for many years. He and wife Rosa Einarsdottir (1865-1941) had eight children: Adalsteinn “Allan” Johannesson (1889-?), George Johannesson (1892-1919), Sigrun Emma Johannesson (1894-?, wife of James Moore Morrow), Konrad Jonasson “Konnie” Johannesson, Laufey Hansina Johannesson (1898-?, wife of Helgi Hornford), Aurora Johannesson (c1904-1992, wife of John Thordarson), and Johanna Unnur Johannesson (1907-1993, wife of James Llewellyn Thornton Simmons), and Valtyr “Walter” Johannesson (1910-1986). He was Treasurer of the Gimli Old Folks Home since its establishment and was a member of First Lutheran Church. He died at his Winnipeg home, 675 McDermot Avenue, on 6 September 1935 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.
Some of his construction works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
730 Victor Street, Winnipeg
1911
480 Young Street, Winnipeg
1912
482 Young Street, Winnipeg
1913
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Birth, marriage, and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“J. Johanneson, west pioneer, dies, aged 72,” Winnipeg Tribune, 7 September 1935, page 24.
Death registration [Rosa Johannesson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Rosa Johannesson], Winnipeg Tribune, 18 December 1941, page 23.
“Early Icelandic builders in Winnipeg” by S. Aleck Thorarinson, Logberg Heimskringla, 30 March 1967, pages 4-5.
Obituary [Valtyr Johannesson], Winnipeg Free Press, 1 October 1986, page 58.
Obituary [Aurora Thordarson], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 March 1992, page 32.
Obituary [Johanna Unnur Simmons], Winnipeg Free Press, 25 November 1993, page 72.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 June 2022
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