Greg McNeill

Greg McNeill started exploring genealogy back in early 1990’s when he claimed a box of unwanted photos and notes pertaining to his wife Tanus’ family, after her grandfather passed away. After documenting her family, Greg turned his attention to his own Scottish and Icelandic family history. Greg likens genealogy to working on a giant puzzle without a picture to guide the outcome; a pursuit he finds both challenging and exciting. His motto is, where there's patience and persistence, there's bound to be a solution.

His Icelandic connection is strongly tied to the town of Selkirk, Manitoba. A town where most of his Icelandic family continues to live since the family emigrated in the 1890’s. His afi on his mother’s side was first generation Canadian as both of his parents (Greg’s great-grandparents) emigrated as children to North America. Greg´s great-grandfather delivered the mail between Selkirk and Gimli around 1900 meeting and marrying his wife in Gimli. He was from Vopnafjöður and she from Skagafjöður areas. They lived and raised a family in Selkirk and operated a family running the Benson Bros Butcher shop there for nearly 70 years.

Greg was born in Selkirk, Manitoba but raised in a small company town of Great Falls, Manitoba where his father worked for Manitoba Hydro. Greg moved to Winnipeg to attend the University of Manitoba graduating with a bachelor’s degree in commerce. Then followed his father and worked most of his career at Manitoba Hydro in procurement and export marketing selling electricity to neighbouring states and provinces. Retiring in 2022 from a career at Manitoba Hydro, he now has time to focus on travel, carpentry and of course genealogy. Greg continues to live in Winnipeg but has a cottage in the middle of New Iceland in the town of Silver Harbour (aka Arnes), Manitoba where they spend a significant amount of time enjoying the peaceful lakefront community.