Kristin Sigvaldason Johnson May 10, 1934 – August 10, 2017

Kristin Sigvaldason Johnson passed peacefully knowing she was well loved by family and friends.
She will be lovingly remembered by her son Keith (Joanne) and their family Kara (Daniel) (Brooke and Beckem), Jamie and Noah; her daughter Esther (Brian) and their daughters Quinn and Shawn; brother Ingi (Mae), sister Emily, sisters-in-law Colleen, Ethel and Valdina and many nieces and nephews.

Kristin was predeceased by her gentle and loving husband Kristjan; sisters Solla and Margaret, brothers Lawrence, Marino, Barney and an infant brother Marino Sigvaldi; brothers-in-law Steini, Magnus, Bob, Snorri and Kjartan, and sisters in law Ivy and Gudny.

Kristin’s life began to revolve around music when she was a little girl taking piano lessons. She loved to play the piano.

As a teenager she started playing the organ for the church services in Geysir. She was the church organist until the Geysir church burned down thirty years later and afterwards she helped out as organist for the Ardal-Geysir congregation.

After completing teachers college, she went to teach in Churchill for two years. She returned to teach in Winnipeg and then Geysir and Arborg.

Once settled into married life and beginning to raise a family, she transformed the basement of her house into a music studio. There she taught piano and guitar, gave singing lessons, and directed community choirs.
She started a youth choir that helped to shape many young lives and to develop their love for music. Many of the songs had challenging harmonies but she helped the group of young people follow music so well that they did not need to be directed during performance while Kristin accompanied on piano.
She continued with her own musical training by attending workshops, travelling in to Winnipeg for voice lessons and later by joining both the Philharmonic Choir and the Opera Chorus.
While still raising her family, she began studying music at the University of Manitoba, majoring in voice. Since many of the songs that she would perform were in Italian and Latin and German, she also took challenging language courses. She graduated with her degree in Music the same year that her son Keith finished his diploma in Agriculture.

After completing her degree she returned to full time life on the farm and put her heart and energy into directing a talented group of community singers in musical theater, putting on performances of Fiddler on the Roof, Brigadoon, Oklahoma, and Hans Christian Anderson.
More recently she directed an Icelandic Men’s Choir named Sóley Söngmenn. She was pleased that this group of local men could sing complicated harmonies and produce such beautiful sounds.

Kristin was an enterprising person, always supportive of her family’s business as well as looking for opportunities to serve through her own entrepreneurial projects over the years.

Her grandchildren were the constant beneficiaries of her example, experience and encouragement. She was always ready to sit beside them at the piano or to support them in their singing and musical endeavors.
Proud also of their achievements in sports, “Ammu” as she was affectionately called, could be seen cheering on her grandchildren at many hockey, baseball and basketball games.

In the past few years she continued singing as a member of the Solskrítjan Icelandic Choir and played for services and sing-a-longs at the Arborg Assisted Living Center.

Kristin was a free spirit who loved adventure. This led her down many interesting paths and travel destinations over the years.
She was a kind and generous soul who was quick to step up to support and help friends and family in new projects or in times of need.
Kristin was well loved, not only by her family, but very much by her friends and her community and will be greatly missed.

A celebration of Kristin’s life will be held on Monday, August 28, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. in Ardal Geysir Lutheran Church in Arborg.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Kristin’s memory to the Ardal Geysir Lutheran Church, Box 160, Arborg, MB, R0C 0A0.