GILBERT (GIL) SIGURDUR VIGFUSSON

Slowly, and then suddenly, cancer took Gil from us on March 12, 2026. He was 85 years old.

Gilbert Sigurdur Vigfusson was born in Howardville, north of Riverton, on October 6, 1940 to Jon and Jonina. The sixth of ten children, he grew up hearing Icelandic at home. Being a middle child, he still could speak it as an adult.

Young Gil worked on the family farm, including tending the chicken coop, which resulted in him having both a strong work ethic and a lifelong disdain for poultry. During his youth, he trapped muskrats for pocket money, had his first ice cream cone in Winnipeg at 12, and saw electricity come to the farm in 1953.

Gil spent the late 1950s and 1960s working around Manitoba — installing telephone poles for MTS, maintaining draglines for Monarch construction, digging the Winnipeg Floodway, hauling freight over a frozen Lake Winnipeg, and cutting meat at Canada Packers. While working with MTS, a trip to Brandon with a buddy turned into a blind date with the love of his life, Betty. In 1969 he found his place at the Seagram's distillery in Gimli, where he worked as a millwright for nearly thirty years. While at Seagram's, in the early 1970s he worked with Raymond at the skidoo shop, and between 1979 and the early 1980s, he owned and operated Gimli Septic Service, first with Jimmy Robinson and then alone.

The house he built, much with his own hands, just outside of Gimli on Highway 9 was a point of pride. He enjoyed being by the lake and he loved to get out on a boat. Favorite trips included picking blueberries on Black Island, fishing at the Narrows, and water skiing with his family.

In 2003, Gil and Betty moved to Brandon to be closer to her sisters. He enjoyed his time there, especially the golf, but Gimli remained close to his heart. Age did not slow him much. As recently as the summer of 2024, he and Betty built a large backyard fence in a week, a project that impressed neighbors half their age.

Gil travelled across Canada from Whitehorse to PEI, through much of the US including extended stays in DC and a month in Hawaii, and overseas to France, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Even with all that travel, he still knew home was best. He watched the news, enjoyed hockey on TV especially the Jets, and took real pleasure in his garden and yard. His front yard looked like the finest putting green. On the actual golf course, he and Jim Lamport once won the men's senior league, and he enjoyed playing weekly golf through 2024.

With 36 nieces and nephews, Gil was the quieter uncle with a bemused smile, not the loudest or most talkative, but good for a one-on-one conversation.

Gil is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Betty; their sons Rob (Christy) and Trev (Irene); and their four grandchildren John, Nina, Luke, and Ira.

He is also survived by his siblings Doreen, Raymond (Lorraine), Shirley (Les Kudor), Donald (Peggy), and Barb (Ken Rindall), and brother-in-law Elert Isfjord (Darlene). On Betty's side, he is survived by her sisters Lyn (Barry Shannon) and Joan; and sisters-in-law Bev (Charlie's widow), Joan B. (Bob's widow), and Shirley (Jim's widow).

Gil was predeceased by his brother Johnny; his sisters Thora, Margaret, and Daisy; brothers-in-law Hermundur Jonasson, Rudy Geske, and Lorne Magnusson; sister-in-laws Joan and Judie, both wives of his brother Johnny, and nieces Kendra Isfjord and Cindy Johnson (née Magnusson). On Betty's side, he was predeceased by her brothers George, Charlie, Bob, and Jim; her sister Pat; and brothers-in-law Harry Fraser and Don Hodgson.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, March 31, at 11:00 a.m. at Gimli Lutheran Church. Burial will follow at Gimli Cemetery, in the shadow of Seagram's, where he worked for many years.

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