Þorvaldur Gunnarsson was born on December 30, 1853 in Skagafjarðarsýsla. He died on December 12, 1944 in Washington County, Minnesota. He took the name Gunnar J. Thorwald in the west.
Spouse: Jóhanna S. Jóhannesdóttir b. August 16, 1864 in Húnavatnssýsla, d. November 10, 1946 in Minnesota.
Children: 1. Jónína Amalía b. 1884 2. Margrét b. 1889 3. Sigrún b. January 4, 1894 4. Soffía b. 1896 5. Matilda María b. 1898 6. Mínerva b. 1899, d. at a few years of age? 7. Mínerva b. December 6, 1905.
Þorvaldur came west to Winnipeg in 1899 and Jóhanna arrived a year later with four of their daughters; Amalía and Sigrún came west in 1901. They first lived in Selkirk, Manitoba but then moved to Stillwater, Minnesota. Þorvaldur was a carpenter but spent his last years working in a grain elevator.