Volcano Bakery owner remembered for serving up kindness, friendship
Haukur Leifs Hauksson, 53, died on May 21 in St. John’s and is being remembered fondly by family, friends and customers as a kind and friendly person who realized his dream of opening a bakery in the city to introduce all kinds of Scandanavian treats to customers.
Volcano Bakery opened in the east end of St. John’s in August 2016 and was a major hit right from the start.
Condolences posted to the Carnell’s Funeral Home website describe Hauksson as “one of the nicest people I have had the good fortune to meet” and “a great friend, neighbour and buddy.”
“I was always so grateful for him providing St. John’s with his baked goods, including the Norwegian treats that made me feel closer to home,” Norwegian friend Liv-terese wrote.
Hauksson and his wife, Adalbjork Sigurthorsdottir, moved to Newfoundland from Iceland in 2013. Sigurthorsdottir worked with an Icelandic company that became involved in a local metal recycling business. Sigurthorsdottir soon left that business to join her husband in the bakery, along with a growing number of employees.
“That was the only thing he wanted to do, was baking,” Sigurthorsdottir said. “He was baking since he was seven years old with his father.”
Hauksson and his father operated bakeries in Iceland for 18 years before he left for Newfoundland.
He also studied in Denmark to become a pastry chef and worked in Norway for a year perfecting Scandanavian treats.
In his St. John’s bakery, Hauksson always wanted to know what customers thought of his pastries.
“When people came into the bakery and told him his pastries were so good, he’d just light up,” Sigurthorsdottir said. “Always when he came home, he would tell me a story about some customer. He was so happy about it.”
Hauksson was also a wonderful family man who loved being around his children, his wife said.
“He was always so proud of them,” Sigurthorsdottir said. “He always wanted to spend time with them.”
Whenever he was around any children, she added, Hauksson wanted to teach them something about baking.
“Whatever he could find, or whatever he had in his hand, he’d try to teach them something about baking,” she said.
Natasha, a daycare teacher who cares for Hauksson’s son, Patrick, posted in a condolence that, “He always had a neat trick to show the kids with play dough. He was famous for his homemade pretzel. He would make it for the kids within a few minutes.”
Hauksson is predeceased by his parents in Iceland, Kristin and Haukur.
He is survived by his wife, Adalbjorg Sigurthorsdottir; children Sandra (Vilhjalmur), Smari, Gabriel and Patrick; grandchild Vilhjalmur Haukur; parents-in-law Kristin and Sigurthor; siblings Gudlaug, Smari, Konstantin; sister-in-law Laufey, Lara and brother-in-law Adalsteinn; his friends Bjarni and Solrun; and his staff of Volcano Bakery.
A funeral service will be held at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, Westerland Road, today at 1 p.m.