Gunnar Matthíasson and Guðný Árnadóttir Photo: Private collection.
Gunnar Matthíasson was born at Oddi in Rangárvallasýsla on August 7, 1882.
Spouse: October 25, 1905 Guðný Árnadóttir b. July 3, 1883 in the Argyle Settlement in Manitoba.
Children: 1. Elín Guðrún b. August 29, 1907 2. Unnur Helga b. July 31, 1911 3. Þóra Anna b. January 7, 1914 4. Matthías Árni b. March 8, 1915.
Gunnar was the son of Matthías Jochumsson, poet, and his third wife Guðrún Runólfsdóttir. He moved to Akureyri with his parents in 1887 and was attended Möðruvallaskóli for one year. He moved west to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1898 and settled in Argyle. He moved west to the Pacific, settled in Seattle, and studied masonry. He worked as a mason for ten years, but then studied pharmacology, bought a pharmacy with Bjarni Jóhannsson, and together they ran it for 14 years. He moved to Los Angeles in 1937 where he worked once again as a mason. He first visited Iceland in 1909, again in 1947 with his wife when Icelandic young people who received their help during their years of study in California invited them to Iceland. Finally, he visited Iceland in 1954 with his daughter Þóra, who was then a well-known singer. She held several concerts in Reykjavík. Guðný was the daughter of Árni Sveinsson, a settler in the Argyle Settlement and his wife Guðrún Helga Jónsdóttir.