SCA's Great Achievement Award was presented to Mrs. Siri Eliason on April 9, 2011, at the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon.
Mrs. Eliason, of Thousand Oaks, CA, has been an active member throughout Swedish America for many decades. She states, "It is just part of my life and who I am."
Siri and her huband immigrated to the US in
1960. They embarked on business careers,
starting the Scandiline Corp, which focused on office and institutional
furniture. The company had factories in Norway and Denmark,
an assembly plant in south LA, and developed offices in New
York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Later, they started a retail Scandinavian furniture
company called Danika; Siri became its CEO, and it eventually had 5 locations
in 3 states.
From early times, Siri was involved in the Swedish
American Chamber of Commerce, and the American Scandinavian Foundation, and
soon held leadership positions in these organizations. She was a member of the Swedish Women’s
Educational Association from its inception, and was instrumental in its
continued success, through her influence and encouragement of its founder.
In 1978, she became a decorated member of the
Royal Order of the Polar Star (rank Commander) by His Majesty King Carl Gustav
of Sweden
for her contributions to Swedish-American relations and business. In
1985, following the untimely death of her husband, she was appointed honorary Consul General of
Sweden for the San Francisco
area, a position which she held for 14 years. The jurisdiction was later increased to encompass
all of northern California.
During part of this time, she also served as Secretary of the San Francisco
Consular Corps, which represented some 30 countries.
In 1984, Siri received a Royal Medal for her
work with the Scandinavia Today project, and in 1997 she received the Scandinavian
of the Year Award by the American Swedish Foundation. She has also been active in leadership
positions in the Church of Sweden in California. Her accomplishments have been recognized on
both sides of the Atlantic, and in 1996 she received in Sweden the Swedish American of the
Year Award by two districts of VASA.
In 1994, Siri received the Ellis Island Award
from the National Ethnic Coalition in New York,
an award shared by 6 US
Presidents, Nobel Prize winners, as well as leaders of industry, education, and
government.
Siri has also been active in the field of
education, and served on the Board of Regents for 9 years at California Lutheran University, and as
Chair of the Board for 4 years. She received the University’s Exemplar Medallion in 1986.
In the
same year, Siri became a director on the Board of SCA, and was Chair of this
Board from 2005-2007, as well as Chair of its Royal Round Table.
