Memorable Manitobans: Haakon Magnus Leonard Overgaard (c1885-1974)

Haakon Magnus Leonard Overgaard Click to enlarge

Building contractor.

Born at Bjarkoy, Norway around 1885, he came to Canada in 1910 and established the Overgaard Construction Company, specializing in the building of grain elevators, elevator annexes, and flour mills. He designed and built the first sunflower seed processing mill at Altona.

He and wife Johanne Karoline Jacobsen (c1886-1966) had five children: Herman Olaf Johan Overgaard (1920-2000), Edmund Kristian Overgaard (1921-1998), Sigvald Magnus Overgaard (1923-2003), Hjordis Aud Overgaard (1926-2019), and Dagg Overgaard (1931-2013). He was a member of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, which he helped to build, Empire Club of Canada, and League of Norsemen in Canada (President, 1939).

He died at his Winnipeg home, 524 Sprague Street, on 30 January 1974 and was buried in the Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens.

Some of his construction works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Manitoba Pool grain elevator annex	Oak Lake, RM of Sifton	1951	Demolished (?)
Manitoba Pool grain elevator annex	Rapid City, RM of Oakview	1951	Demolished (?)
Manitoba Pool grain elevator annex	Solsgirth, Municipality of Prairie View	1951	Demolished (?)
Manitoba Pool grain elevator annex	Holland, RM of Victoria	1952	Demolished (?)
Manitoba Pool grain elevator annex	Nesbitt, Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa	1953	Demolished (?)

Sources:

Birth registrations [Herman Overgaard, Edmund Kristian Overgaard, Sigvald Magnus Overgaard], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Haakon Overgaard heads Norse League,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 February 1939, page 5.

“Nazarene's spirit,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 March 1940, page 12.

Obituary [Johanne Karoline Overgaard], Winnipeg Free Press, 24 May 1966, page 26.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 4 February 1974, page 14.

Obituary [Edmund Kristian Overgaard], Winnipeg Free Press, 26 June 1998, page 38.

Obituary [Herman Olaf Johan Overgaard], Winnipeg Free Press, 29 July 2000.

Obituary [Sigvald Magnus Overgaard], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 July 2003.

Obituary [Dagg Overgaard], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 November 2013.

Obituary [Hjordis Aud Overgaard], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 January 2020.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Earl Sande for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 12 April 2024

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