Gunnar Nilsson (1922 - 2001)
Gunnar Nilsson was born in Sweden where he and his siblings grew up on a farm. He immigrated to Canada in 1953 and worked in Alberta before moving to the Yukon in 1956.1) One of his first jobs was upgrading the water and sewer system in Whitehorse. He built several houses and was good at welding and mechanics.2)
Gunnar and Hector Lang formed a partnership and spent a few years in the 1960s building bridges on the North and South Canol roads, the Campbell Highway, the Faro road, and other places throughout the territory.3) One summer they built twenty-two bridges on the South Canol Road. In 1970, Nilsson and his wife Mickey Lammers started up a sawmill south of Marsh Lake, calling the property Sloughmill.4)
Nilsson was interested in silviculture and represented the industry as a technical delegate to the Canada-Yukon EDA from 1992 to 1995. An experimental forest on the left side of the Mayo Road, just north of the Takhini Bridge, is named for Nilsson and his wife.5)
Nilsson is also remembered as a mechanical wizard. He modified a machine to turn sawdust into wood pellets and then sold them for $5 a bag. He had a dream to start a transportation museum and eventually donated vehicles to the Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse.6)
Gunnar Nilsson and Hector Lang were the first two inductees into the Transportation Museum's Hall of Fame in 1996. In 1997, Nilsson was presented with the Commissioner's Award for Public Service for acts of generosity and his willingness to help fellow Yukoners.7)