Johann Karlsson and Emma Nilsdotter led modest country lives in Sweden before they immigrated to Canada in 1887 and 1893 respectively. As with many Swedish immigrants at this time they anglicized their names to John Carlson and Emma Nelson endeavouring to fit into the predominantly British establishment.

Emma found work as a housemaid/cook for a medical doctor on Robson Street in Vancouver and John worked as a bridge builder for the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Kootenays. Although they came from the same village of Kinnared, Halland, they became reacquainted in Canada and were married in Greenwood BC in 1903. They lived in an outfitted CPR rail car that travelled between the east and west Kootenays where Emma was the cook for the CPR crew and John a foreman on the line. After their son Ernest was born they settled in Greenwood in 1909 where they built their first Canadian home and where daughter Elsie was born. With the closure of the Canada Copper Company smelter in 1917 they moved to Vancouver where John found work with the Pacific Great Eastern Railway and as a carpenter for Britannia Mines at Britannia Beach. John built a house for the family on 49th Avenue near Fraser street where Ernest and Elsie enjoyed city life. Elsie and her girlfriends would often board the Union Steamship boat in downtown Vancouver for an evening of dancing at the pavilion on Bowen Island. Emma’s house was always open to friends, relatives and other Swedes for a good meal and lively conversation - perhaps in Swedish although John discouraged Swedish to be spoken in their home in order to assimilate into the Canadian mosaic. An ironic fact given that later Swedish immigrants have strived to keep their language.

With the depression years in the early 1930’s, Emma and John ventured in a new direction of farming and living off the land on Sumas Prairie in the Fraser Valley where they purchased seven acres from the provincial government. This land was a portion of the rich farmland that came into existence by the drainage of Sumas Lake, an astonishing scheme initiated by earlier settlers in the 1920’s. They had a cow, a flock of chickens and an extensive vegetable garden. Depression time brought hungry transient men to their door where they were always provided with food in return for a little work on the farm. Daughter Elsie, a fashionable young city girl, was not happy to leave the city behind but during the depression she had little options. She soon found employment as a secretary at a local nursery, and shortly thereafter married and had two daughters. Son Ernest had ventured off on his own and eventually married and settled in Powell River to raise their five children. After John died in 1952, Emma moved with her daughter Elsie and family to Agassiz where she died at age 96.

John and Emma immigrated to Canada to provide a better living for themselves. In doing so they contributed to the early construction and settlement of this country. Descendants of John and Emma are proud to have their Swedish heritage as a part of their lives today in Canada.

Karen Craig, granddaughter 2024

Staffan Lindgren was born in Norrköping, Sweden, on July 18, 1950. At age 11 he moved with his parents to Piteå in Norrbotten, where he grew up, and he considers himself a “norrlänning”. He was interested in animals from an early age, particularly insects and spiders, encouraged (or at least not discouraged) by his parents. His father, in spite of having only a 6th grade education, possessed an endless curiosity about a broad range of topics, and the family encyclopedia was heavily used as were books and other sources of knowledge. Staffan’s father was a bit of an Anglophile, who had taught himself English by reading English books and listening to BBC radio for pronunciation.

In 1968, Staffan had the opportunity to spend a year living with a family in Michigan, USA, and this experience shaped his view of the world a lot. The US was the midst of the Vietnam war and the information available was highly biased compared to reporting in Sweden. Nevertheless, it was his experiences in the US High School system that gave Staffan the confidence to seek a university education in Canada, which eventually led to him immigrating to Canada.

In 1977, after having completed a Bachelor’s degree in biology at Uppsala University and briefly pursuing a PhD in physiology at Umeå University, In 1977, Staffan was accepted as a student in a relatively new degree program called Master of Pest Management at Simon Fraser University. To fund this he received a fellowship from The Sweden-America Foundation. By the end of 1979 he had completed the MPM degree requirements and was offered a funded PhD candidate position by Dr. John H. Borden, SFU. After some deliberation he accepted the position, and the rest is history, as they say. The research involved mass trapping of so-called ambrosia beetles (aka pinhole borers) using newly developed pheromones. Traps at that time consisted of mesh covered with sticky material. Staffan invented a “multiple funnel” trap that did not require sticky stuff, and he completed his graduate research by spring 1982. This trap was commercialized as “The Lindgren Trap” by a small spin-off company which patented the trap and used it along with the pheromones as the basis for selling an ambrosia beetle management program. In 1984, Staffan was offered an Industrial Postdoctoral Fellowship to join Phero Tech, Inc as their Research Director. This allowed Staffan to apply for landed immigrant status. In 1987, he became a Canadian citizen. By then he had met his future wife, who he married in 1985, and they moved to Prince George with their two sons. One of them still lives in Prince George, while the other lives in Redmond, Washington.

Staffan worked at Phero Tech for 10 years, when in 1994 he was offered a position as Associate Professor at the newly established University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, BC. He was promoted to full professor in 2003, and he retired at the end of 2015. During the more than 21 years at UNBC, Staffan taught Entomology, Forest Health, Invertebrate Zoology, and several other undergraduate and graduate courses. He also ran a successful research program focusing on insects, supervising 13 MSc and one PhD student.

Staffan made many trips to Sweden while his parents and brothers were still alive. In 1993 he and his family spent 6 months in Uppsala, where Staffan was visiting scientist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. His last visit was in 2016. He still maintains connections with his many cousins, two sister-in-laws, niece and nephews and close friends.

Staffan and his wife Laurie moved to Nanaimo at the end of 2015. Staffan still maintains connections with academia, but is mainly active in citizen science projects, and the local naturalist club, which hehelped establish in 2017. Pre-Covid, he also volunteered in the entomology section of the Royal BC Museum. He enjoys bird watching, kayaking, photography and flyfishing in his spare time.

GP

Ruth (born 1926) grew up in Österslöv, Skåne. Her father was employed by the owners of Karsholms Castle as the fisheries manager for Oppmannasjön and her mother was a former teacher. Ruth made lifelong friends at teacher’s college in Lund and kept contact with them her entire life. Her most adventuresome post was to Pajala. This is how she met Vincent. Ruth wrote, “Having done his military service, Vincent got a job in the northern part of Sweden. I had my workplace 100 kilometers above the Arctic Circle and was on my way to start work. We happened to be on the same train and as fate wanted it, we were seated at the same table having our lunch (at least I thought it was fate but sometime later I found out that Vincent had given the Porter 5 Swedish Kronor as a tip for seating us like that).”

Vincent was born in Shanghai, China in 1925. His father was Swedish and was employed by the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Vincent’s mother was from Latvia. In 1933, Vincent’s father retired after 30 years’ service with the Customs Service. The family settled in Göteborg. As a child in China, Vincent attended Hankow Private School, so he became fluent in English—an advantage for moving to Canada.

“Why not go to Canada and try our luck!” was how Ruth recalled the sentiment shared with her husband Vincent when they were both 31 years old, living in Perstorp, and restless despite good jobs. Ruth was an elementary school teacher. Vincent was Assistant Export Manager and Export Traveller (for decorative laminated plastics products; Perstorps Plattan) at Skånska Ättikfabriken AB. Ruth and Vincent with their sons Roland (4-1/2) and Richard (8 months old) emigrated from Sweden to Canada in July 1957.

The Wahlgren family foursome sailed from Copenhagen to Halifax aboard the MS Stockholm. From Halifax they rode the Canadian National train to Vancouver. Vincent found work as a sales representative for Dominion Sound specializing in acoustic surfaces products for offices and institutions. He visited architects to convince them to specify the products in their projects. The family rented a suite in a house in Kitsilano and happily settled down. Besides raising her sons, Ruth attended evening classes to learn English and Canadian culture. In 1960, the family moved to North Vancouver.

That year, Ruth and Vincent founded Modern Materials Ltd in North Vancouver as an International Paints dealer but by 1963 transformed into a wholesaler to the cabinet and millwork trades. Perstorp brand decorative laminate was among the products offered. Shipping logistics caused Modern Materials to switch to distributing an American laminate by the late 1960s. Vincent attended meetings of the Scandinavian Business Club. Once, Prince Bertil was a guest—he shook hands with Vincent who joked later this was a privilege so great he might never wash his hand again. Modern Materials thrived by introducing new products to industries in Western Canada until the 1990s when transportation and communication advances doomed many independent businesses. When Ruth and Vincent retired, Richard and Roland managed the firm. Modern Materials ceased business in 1998.

Ruth became active with the Swedish Cultural Society. Ruth’s Valborgsmässoafton speech about misunderstanding, in her college days, an invitation from her farmer sister to help round up heifers (jokingly called Fröknarna Horn by her sister) as an invitation to a dance hosted by young women of the nobility at Häckeberga Castle was remembered fondly by some SCF members. Vincent died in 2000 (aged 74) after five years struggle with blood cancer. Ruth enjoyed her friendships in Vancouver’s Swedish Community for many more years until she succumbed to Alzheimer’s Disease in 2017 at the age of 91.

RW

Ernst Harald Larsson was born in Flädie, located between Malmö and Lund, on October 15,1881. His parents bought a house and a general store in Lunnarp, and that is where he grew up and went to school. Lunnarp is a village just north of Ystad on the south coast of Sweden. Ernst was strongheaded and artistic. He ran away to sea and took hire on sailing ships as a teenager. The ships were trading ships that went across the North Sea to England. In early 1900's he met a girl in Hull, Florence Hawkins and married her in 1904.

Ernst's parents were not exactly thrilled to hear about his marriage. They had hoped that he would come back to Sweden and settle down and take over their flourishing business in Lunnarp. He did bring his bride to Sweden for a while and did his military service in the Swedish navy. Florence didn't like Sweden, she didn't speak the language and didn't like living with her in-laws.They went back to England where she had a baby every year. Stanley born in 1905,Ernst in 1906, Lilian in 1907, George in 1908 and Ronald in 1909!

Ernst worked for a while in factories in Middlesbrough and hated it.They went back to Sweden in 1910 and there it was decided that they would emigrate to Canada. Ernst's parents would pay for their passage. Ernst went first to get established. He travelled to Liverpool and went to Canada by ship from there. He went to a place called Heather Downs,near Edmonton, where he was given land to clear by the government.

Florence in the meantime had five children under five and it was decided that she could leave the three older children with the grandparents in Lunnarp and take the two younger ones with her.The older children were to travel later with a relative once the family was settled in their new life Canada. It later turned out that this plan never happened and the children never saw their parents again. The relative married and the first world war came and put a stop to travel, so they staid in Sweden.

Ernst cleared his land in Alberta and got title to it after the prescribed time, but he was not a farmer and took his family to Victoria during the first world war and joined the Canadian Navy. After the war they went back to Edmonton and sold their land and went back to the coast. Ernst had heard about Lund, B.C. So he bought a boat and took his family up to Lund in order to become a fisherman. They lived in a float house to start with, but eventually Ernst bought some land in Okeover arm and built a house and a boat shed and started his new life as a fisherman. Florence had five more children in Canada.

The property in Okeover Arm is now called Larson's Landing. It is situated across the water from the government dock in Okeover Arm across from the Laughing Oyster Restaurant.It was only accessible by boat and the children had to row across to go to school in Lund. The result was that the schooling was patchy as they were dependant on the weather conditions especially in winter. Ernst was a successful fisherman and fished on the coast for many years. He would take his boys as crew and go up to Rivers inlet and fish during the the summers Florence tended their orchard and grew all their vegetables. She also grew melons that were sold to the hotels in Powell River. She got sacks of flour and sugar and some tea and coffee in the fall and that was the extent of her grocery shopping. The rest they got through their garden and fishing and hunting. She made her own bread and preserved all the berries and fruit and vegetables.

The 4 boys started hunting at an early age and they all started as whistle boys in logging camps at 12 years old. Ernst and Florence never went back to their home countries but they always wrote letters to their Swedish children.

GP

Edwin Albert Alm was born in Bjärme, Jämtland February 9, 1888. His father was a professional soldier, and the family was quite poor. Edwin learned to work hard early in his life. He did well at school and after confirmation, his father and the minister of the local church decided that Edwin should study to become a minister. He was sent to lessons in Latin with the minister, but there was no money for university. Edwin went to work on local farms instead.

In 1907 Edwin decided to emigrate to America. He didn't speak any English and had no money. Edwin tried to borrow money from an uncle, but the uncle thought he should stay in Sweden. Eventually a stranger, back in Sweden from America on a visit, lent him 500 kronor. When Edwin went to buy his ticket, they asked where he was going he said: “As far as the money will take me”. This turned out to be Seattle, Washington.

The journey started in Östersund by train to Gothenburg, it took 36 hours. Then by ship to England. From Liverpool he went by ship to New York where he went through immigration at Ellis Island. In New York he boarded a train to Seattle. The train journey was eight days in a dirty, smelly train full of immigrants from central and southern Europe. No sleeping accommodation!

Finally in Seattle Edwin staid in a rooming house, together with some young Swedes he met on the train, for 25 cents a day. After three days they were desperate to find some work. A Swede came to the rooming house and gave them work on a farm, no wages but free room and board. So, Edwin started his new life in the US pulling turnips. After a few days they heard that work could be had building a logging railroad 20 miles a way. So off they went! Edwin eventually progressed into other construction work, learning on the jobs. He did bridgebuilding, carpentry, cement work. All this in the Spokane area of Washington and in Montana. As he learnt better English, he became a foreman and later took on contracts on his own.

In 1912 Edwin came to Saskatchewan and started his own contracting firm, working mostly for the CPR. In 1921 Edwin went to Vancouver and started out with a carpet cleaning company. He became quite successful and sold the company after some time to start his own real estate company. He had an office on Granville Street and later built his own office building on the corner of Burrard and Broadway. He owned and operated a hotel, three dance halls, a farm near Chilliwack and was in a mining syndicate.

Edwin and his wife Anne took many trips back to Sweden and Edwin became a philanthropist and a self-proclaimed ambassador for Canada in Sweden. Making generous donations to among other things a large collection of Canadian books for the Jämtland Länsbibliotek (provincial library of Jämtland). This became the authority on Canadian literature in Sweden. He also set up some scholarships and arranged for a totem pole to be sent to Östersund from Vancouver. Edwin also made a donation to some of the Swedish organisations and to the building of the Augustana Lutheran Church in Vancouver.

GP

Sigge (Alf Sigvald) Björklund was born in Lappfjärd, Finland on February 15, 1926. He immigrated to Vancouver in 1956. Upon arriving in Vancouver he lived with his sister Linnea and worked as an electrician. Being an avid cross country skier from Finland, he loved the mountains of the west coast but couldn't find any suitable cross country skis to buy here. Sigge sprang in to action and started to import skis and sold them out of his garage. This venture eventually became “ Sigge's Sports Villa”, a retail store specializing in cross country ski equipment and clothing.

Sigge also frequented some of the Swedish societies and there met Elene Eastman whom he married in 1960. Elene came from a Swedish immigrant family and spoke fluent Swedish. She was also an accomplished pianist. Sigge took Elene on a 10month honeymoon, travelling throughout Europe in a red sports car! In 1962 Sigge was instrumental in forming “The Vancouver Skiers Cross-Country and Touring Club”. From an initial 30 members, membership increased to 500 in 1972. Determined to to showcase all the wonders of cross country skiing Sigge was involved in forming the Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors (CANSI) in 1976 and the Nordic Ski club in 1980. Sigge was very generous with both his time and support for sponsoring young skiers.

Many Vancouverites will remember Sigge from the many bus trips he organized with the Vancouver Ski club, to Manning Park,Mt Seymour, Hollyburn (Cypress), Whistler and later to the interior of BC. Sigge was always on the bus to Manning Park and brought out the wine and cheese on the return journey back to Vancouver!

Starting in 1972 the Vancouver Skiers Club hosted 25 races a season at Mt Seymour, including 5 Olympic trial races. The Cariboo marathon started in 1976. To provide support for the racing community the Nordic ski club was started in 1980. Sigge Björklund was the life and soul of all this activity and seemed to love every minute of it. His son Anders took over the store after Sigge, but after 47 years in business “Sigge's Sports Villa” closed in 2018.

Sigge died in November 2018 and his beloved Elene in December 2018.

Sigge was a very enthusiastic man and loved his skiing. He continued to ski well in to his old age. He will be remembered as the father of Cross-Country skiing in BC.

GP

Irene Howard was born in Prince Rupert,B.C. on November 19, 1922 to a Swedish father and a Norwegian mother, Nils Alfred Nilsson and Ingeborg Aarvik. Her father later changed his name to Alfred Nels Nelson.

Irene had a childhood of tremendous upheaval due to her father's work in different mines in BC. They moved from mine to mine living in tents and log cabins.She had three older brothers, Art, Verne and Ed and a younger brother Freddie.Their life was all about hard work and survival in the toughest conditions. Irene's mother died in 1931 when Irene was nine, from too hard work and childbirth. Her father died of silicosis in 1948.

Irene went to UBC and got a Master's degree in English and has taught at UBC and Capilano College. She is an author of several books. Her first book was “ Vancouver Svenskar”, a history of the Swedish Community in Vancouver published by Vancouver Historical Society. Irene presented this book to the King and Queen of Sweden when they visited Vancouver in 1988. She also wrote “ Bowen Island 1872 – 1972” published by Bowen Island Historians.

Irene wrote an important biography of social reformer Helena Guttridge, the first woman elected to Vancouver city council. The book is called “ The struggle for social justice: Helena Guttridge, the social reformer” This book earned a nomination for the BC Book Prize and won a UBC medal for Canadian biography. Guttridge was a labour organizer who fought for low income housing and women's rights until she died at 88. She had emigrated from Britain in 1911.

“I had to commemorate their labour, their monumental labour. I had to tell their heroic lives”. That is how Irene Howard introduces her own monumental work: “Gold Dust on his shirt, The true story of an immigrant mining family”. An inspiring and heart wrenching tribute to her parents. Gold dust is one of the most impressive memoirs ever written about a BC working class family. This is an epic tale of perseverance superbly told.

We congratulate Irene on her 100th Birthday on November 19th!!

GP

Peter Larson was born in Sweden in 1858. He jumped ship in Victoria,BC and in 1883 came to Gastown and worked on the construction of the CP railway between Port Moody and Vancouver. He was one of Vancouver's original crew of firemen before the Great Fire that wiped out the newly incorporated city in 1886. When the first train arrived in Vancouver in 1887 he was ready with his Hotel Norden at 23 Cordova street. Soon after he built the Union Hotel on Abbot street which was mainly frequented by sailors.

There was a tight group of Swedish Immigrants in Vancouver by the 1890's and Pete Larson, like other young immigrants, married within their community. His wife was Gerda Peterson from Landskrona in Sweden.They went on to have 4 children; Alma, Rudolph, Olga, and Henry.

Around 1900 Peter and his wife moved across the inlet to the North Shore and on the waterfront established the North Vancouver Hotel (pictured above) on Esplanade. It was a handsome structure with broad lawns, pavilion and bandstand. It came to be known as Vancouver's finest summer resort. Rates were $2.00 per day including meals!

In 1909 Peter built Canyon View Hotel on the site of now Cleveland dam. Pete Larson also bought up large areas of North Shore waterfront. One of these purchases was 223 acres in West Vancouver's Gleneagles area which he bought for $319.00 ! Here he established a ranch and vacation retreat for his family. The ranch also provided fruit, vegetables and eggs for his hotels. Initially the ranch was accessed by boat only in Larson Bay. In 1914 Pete sold 11 acres to the PGE railway who in turn established “Larson Station” so Peter could access his property by railway. Peter Larson sold the ranch to developers in 1927, and it was subdivided in to residential lots and present Gleneagles golf course. The ranch is long gone but Peter Larson's orchard still remains on the golf course at the 6th hole!

Peter Larson was active in his community in North Vancouver. He belonged to the Elks club and the order of Eagles. He took charge of the North Vancouver May Day celebrations. The first of July was also celebrated at the North Vancouver Hotel in fine fashion. There was fireworks, canoe races and broncho busting not to mention the beef BBQ at which a whole steer would be roasted. Working at the hotel there was also a Chinese cook who spoke fluent Swedish as his father was a Swedish missionary! Sadly the hotel was destroyed by fire in 1929. Peter Larson passed away in 1934.

GP

This month we would like to introduce to you our new Swedish honorary consul in Vancouver!

Carina grew up in a small village called Figeholm on the east coast of Sweden in the province of Småland. She came to Canada in 1986 and spent her first year here as a nanny to a family in Pitt Meadows, B.C. She met her future husband, Doug, at UBC in 1987. Carina enrolled in the Canadian travel School and got her Travel Diploma that enabled her to work for Thomas Cook Travel. Doug and Carina married in Vancouver in 1990. Two sons were born in 1992 and 1994 respectively.

Carina and Doug bought a food brokerage business in 1996 which they called “Summit Marketing Canada Ltd”. They together grew the company nationally and worked hard. In 2018 they sold the company after 22 successful years. Carina became involved in the Swedish societies through a Swedish friend and joined the Swedish Cultural Society . In 2014 she was chair of Sweden House Society. In 2016-2017 Carina was president of the Scandinavian Community Centre and is still a director today. She is also on the board of The Swedish Heritage in B.C.

"I still feel a strong connection to Sweden and this is the main reason I accepted the position as Swedish Honorary Consul for BC and Yukon. I am truly honoured and proud to carry on with all the great work so many people have done before me to preserve the Swedish Culture abroad and to build new connections between Canada and Sweden. This could never have happened if I had not made the decision to visit the Scandinavian Community Centre and thanks to all the wonderful people and experiences I had and continue to have at my home away from home."
- Carina Spencer

Before provincial healthcare, Workers' Compensation, and Employment Insurance provided relief from illness or accidents, which was especially prevalent among BC's dangerous manual labour occupations -- there was Svea. Svea operated as a sick benefit organization (including accidents and illness), which also helped with funeral costs, and donations to needy Swedes. Active during the years 1908-1968, it was initiated by Oscar L. Sundborg, a snuff manufacturer from Winnipeg who was later the editor of Svenska Vancouver Posten. There were ninety members in its first year and a list of members reveals that most came from a background as farmhands and labourers to work in Vancouver as loggers, carpenters, and labourers but also included such diverse occupations as waiters, a bartender, and even a civil engineer. An early rule from Svea’s statute book states that members should be Swedish-born men living in BC, with good character between the ages of 18-45. This was later amended to older members and their descendants, as well as Finn-Swedes.

To give an idea of the scope of Svea’s work, the following records indicate that from 1908-1922 (14 years) total revenue for the organization was $7,150.12 (approx. $175,700 in 2022 dollars). Keeping in mind that the pay was less than today, sick help was paid out in the amount of $2,697 (approx. $66,275 in 2022 dollars), funeral help was paid out in the amount of $300 (approx. $7,372 in 2022 dollars), and donations to needy Swedes was paid out in the amount of $414 (approx. $10,173 in 2022 dollars). A typical entry in their books on May 11, 1920 was the following: “Mr. A. Anderson presented a doctor’s certificate for the period April 13 to May 29. The society granted Mr. Anderson's claim for sick help for a period of seven weeks, $35.00”, which amounts to $464.43 in 2022 dollars.

However, Svea was more than a sick benefit organization. As soon as it was established, a "munterhetskommitte" or merriment committee was formed to organize parties and celebrations such as their first Midsummer Fest held at Pete Larson's North Vancouver Hotel. Party-goers were ferried across in a hired boat and enjoyed musicians and dancing on the spacious grounds of the new hotel. Women played a key role in donating their time and abilities to these social events, as well as fundraising activities — a role acknowledged in the Minutes by the Svea membership. Starting in 1910, there was lively debate about whether they could become members until 1921 when it was definitively voted down. One exception to the rule is the mysterious appearance of one Cecilia Wahlin, a domestic servant, registered in the membership log around the time the debate started.

Another committee was also formed in its first year. This was a political committee to improve Swedes’ political standing in Vancouver. Svea was also involved in social affairs and a committee in 1911 was formed to, “discuss if the society could do something for the suppression of the wild and unlawful life that happens in a few of the city’s pubs, where Scandinavians constitute the most prominent nationality”.

In the late 1950s, with changing government aid, Svea continued mostly to visit sick members and hold social meetings. Finally in 1968, after sixty years of service to the Swedish community in Vancouver, Svea disbanded.

My father, Harold Swanson, was born in the family home in Spånga, Hanaskog, Sweden on September 16, 1899. His father had a sawmill business. Eventually the family moved to Agnesberg, also in Hanaskog. His father set up an oak flooring business and raised show horses there. My dad graduated from Malmö Tekniska Läroverk which helped him to get work in Canada. He was well educated and spoke Swedish, German and English which helped him when travelling to Germany on business.The family business eventually went into bancruptcy and the oak flooring business was sold to Tarkett.

In 1929 my Dad and his brother came to Canada by ship and rode the rails. He stopped in Alberta for 2 years to work on a farm and in the forest. In 1931 he rode the rails to Vancouver and Vancouver Island working at a variety of saw mill companies for .42 cents an hour which was a top wage then. He worked with a company installing the first Swedish Ramsågen in the Vancouver area. KomHS technical education he received in Sweden came in handy. During 1941 to 1945 he worked as an engineer at Heaps Engineering, next came Ideal Iron works and finally Dominion Bridge where he worked until 67 years of age and retired. Dominion Bridge stopped making gang saws and only sold parts. I remember my dad had to travel to many states in the south of USA.I remember my dad asking a black person to help him, no problem with his work! I think dad experienced racism first hand.

I remember going on holiday with my dad and mom through BC and having to stop at all the saw mills on the route! Dad met my mother at the Swedish Lutheran church. My brother was born on Vancouver Island, he was the first white baby born in the area. Dad must have been excited , he used Svensson on my brother's birth certificate! Jack had to change his last name to Swanson later.The family was very active in the Swedish Lutheran Church. My dad was a good friend of Matthew Lindfors and was President of the Swedish Press.

My dad became a board member at the Swedish Canadian rest home in North Vancouver in 1950.My dad served as vice president for two years and two years as president.The mortgage was burnt while my dad was president. The North Vancouver Swedish rest home was evetnually sold to the BC government to make way for roads to the new Second Narrows Bridge. While working for Dominion Bridge, my dad would go out during lunch looking for a suitable acreage for the new Swedish Rest home. He came across a nursery for sale and the rest is history. My dad continued as a board member and served on 3 building committees. After retiring, he would drive up to the home to look after daily business and received a $200 car allowance! In march 1970 he received a special certificate for services rendered signed by C Hagman, president and John Leander, secretary. He carrried on as trustee and voiced his disapproval from time to time.

Written by Glenn Swanson

Lund, B.C. is the small picturesque seaside village on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast on the northern terminus of Highway 101, 22 km north of Powell River. It was founded in 1889 by two brothers from the Valdemarsvik area, Charles and Fred Thulin.

Charles Thulin (1863-1932), born Carl August Andersson and Fred Thulin, Fredrik Gottfrid Andersson (1873-1935) grew up in a crofter’s holding in Tryserum parish, Östergötland County, but Charles’ adventurous spirit took him to Vancouver. His younger brother Fred followed three years later. They changed their name to Charles and Fred Thulin and finally settled on the Malaspina Peninsula where they founded the settlement of Lund.

In 1889, with money from his work on the Canadian Pacific railway and as a logger, Charles was able to buy a piece of land north of Vancouver. With hard work more or less day and night the Thulin brothers created the site they called Lund after the southern Swedish city. It was in 1890 that the name was chosen because it was easy to remember and easy to spell.

The entrepreneurial brothers had the foresight for the need for services to the logging and fishing industries so they built a wharf, tugboats, large and smaller scows, a hotel in the centre of Lund that contained a store and a Post Office. They cleared and drained the meadows for farmland. Fred became the Post Master and Justice of the Peace in the community. Fred’s reason for coming to Canada was that he had heard they did not work in the rain there. He was known among the Scandinavians as ‘‘Poppa Thulin’’ for his willingness to aid the community and to assist people in financial difficulty.

The following is a story from John Kalervo Gröhn’s memories from the 1930s courtesy of Dianne Kilback:
‘’One of the Thulin brothers supplied the loggers with drinks from the bar and marked the cost against their pay cheques. When their credit ran out they were told to go back to logging. Many of the loggers complained that they were being taken but to no avail as Thulin was the law in Lund. One day the loggers got together and planned to play a trick on Thulin. The plan was to coil the fire hose on top of the bar in the hotel and one of the loggers was to turn on the water when Thulin came in the door. When this happened Thulin and the whole bar was a dripping shambles. Thulin did not take this lightly and he had the loggers thrown in the clink. The jail was underneath the hotel floor on the rocks next to the high tide line. As the loggers got used to the dim light there they noticed that Thulin’s liquor cellar was right next to the jail. They managed to get into the cellar without too much digging and consumed a large quantity of liquor before the break in was discovered. They had to go back to logging to pay the bill.’’

Fred Thulin remained in Lund for the rest of his life. Charles Thulin moved to Campbell River for more entrepreneurial projects.

Astrid Switzer

Bo Fred Olsson was born in Hede, Härjedalen, Sweden. The Olsson family of 6 left Sweden by ocean liner from Gothenburg to New York in 1946 when he was 4 years old. They travelled across America by rail and entered Canada through the border customs in White Rock, British Columbia. Bo's father was already a Canadian citizen from having lived in Canada several years before, but his mother, he and his younger sister didn't have the proper immigration papers to show, so they were put in a holding cell at the White Rock train station. It was a shocking introduction to a new country for a young family to be put in jail for some reason they had no idea about. and it's even humorous to think of a little 4 - year old boy standing behind bars that were almost wide enough for him to walk through. After several hours of waiting for the clearance documents to be wired to the customs officers, they were released to continue their travels into their new country.

The Olssons settled in Vancouver where the children attended school in the East End.Bo attended Laura Secord Elementary school for grades 1 to 6 in Vancouver and grades 7 to 12 at Vancouver Technical High School. After graduating in 1960, he added a first year of college before taking a job in a large supermarket and earning his way to become Produce Manager. In 1964, he took a year off to travel home to Sweden and stayed in Vikarbyn, Dalarna for a year. There, he worked daytime in a machine shop, learning various metal work skills and teaching night school English at a local school. He was so inspired by both jobs that, upon his return to Canada, he knew he wanted to combine these two skills for a career as an Yrkeslärare (Technology Education Teacher).

After retiring from 34 years of high school teaching, Bo decided to chase one of his other dreams: to be an actor. He started on stage with local live theatre to learn basic acting skills then went on to get an agent and auditioned for film and television. Like most serious actors, he started off in television commercials and was principal actor in over 40 TV ads for many different products. He had various roles in film and television shows like, Beyond Belief, Animal miracles, Dead Like Me, the 4400, the Girlfriend Experience, Helix etc. just to name a few.

He is no longer doing any acting, but continues to perform for many senior residences and other venues in the Lower Mainland where acting skills augment his music and joke-telling routines. He is presently writing songs and hopes to record and publish a few for posterity.

Bo has entertained at many Swedish events, at the Scandinavian Centre and at Swedish Heritage events.