Memorable Manitobans: Eric Stefanson (1913-1977)

Farmer, businessman, MP (1958-1962), MP (1962-1963), MP (1963-1965), MP (1966-1968).

Born at Winnipeg on 8 January 1913, son of Kristjan Stefanson and Rannveig Hallson, he attended Vestfold School and Daniel McIntyre Collegiate. He operated a dairy farm from 1935 to 1948 at Oak Point, later operating a store at Gimli from 1949 to 1958, and an insurance agency from 1956 to 1964. He was active in Gimli government, being a town councillor from 1950 to 1957, and he served ten years in the House of Commons for Selkirk, being elected at general elections in 1958, 1962, 1963, and 1965. Defeated in the 1968 federal election, he ran in the 1945 and 1969 provincial general elections but was defeated each time.

On 19 May 1935, he married Sigrun Sigurdsson (1914-1991) and they had four sons: Thomas “Tom” Stefanson, Dennis Neil Stefanson, Eric Stefanson, and Kris Stefanson. A committee member of the Manitoba Centennial Corporation, he was made General Nanager of the Interlake Development Corporation in 1970, and worked to promote the region until his death at Gimli on 3 February 1977. He was inducted posthumously to the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame (1978).

Sources:

Marriage registration [Eirikur Stefansson, Sigrun Sigurdsson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

The Canadian Directory of Parliament, 1867-1967, edited by J. K. Johnson, Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa [Library and Archives Canada], 1968.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 5 February 1977, page 46.

Obituary [Sigrun Stefanson], Winnipeg Free Press, 22 December 1991, page 33.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

We thank Connor Mah for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 28 May 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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