Sverre Eika (29 August 1899 – 27 May 1971) was a Norwegian

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

and footballer.

Biography

He was born at

Gjerpen Gjerpen is a former township which is now part of the municipality of Skien, in Telemark county, Norway. Location The parish of Gjerpen was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). According to the 1835 census th ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

as a son of teacher Halvor Halvorsen (1867–1924) and Anne Halvorsdatter Eika (1866–1936). In 1934 he married Astri Lindboe (1910–1997). He

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education in 1918. He played for renowned football club

Odds BK Odds provide a measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome. They are calculated as the ratio of the number of events that produce that outcome to the number that do not. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. Odds also have ...

during his youth, then

SFK Lyn Ski- og Fotballklubben Lyn (lit. "Ski and Football Club Lightning") is a Norwegian alliance sports club from Nordre Aker, Oslo. It has two sections; for association football and Nordic skiing. Until 2010 they had a third section, for top-level a ...

after moving to

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

(now Oslo), Norway. With Eika in the squad, the Lyn team was the runner-up in the

1923 Norwegian Football Cup The 1923 Norwegian Football Cup was the 22nd season of the Norway, Norwegian annual knockout association football, football tournament. The tournament was open for all members of Football Association of Norway, NFF. SK Brann, Brann won their first ...

. Eika also won two caps for

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. When he moved to Kristiania, it was in order to study, and he graduated from the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

(now University of Oslo) with a

cand.theol. Candidatus theologiæ (male), Candidata theologiæ (female), abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six-year higher education in theology in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. In Norway, the title has re ...

degree in 1923. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a priest in 1924 and served as a substitute priest in

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

and

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

. He was hired in the

Norwegian Church Abroad The Norwegian Church Abroad or ''The Norwegian Seamen’s Church'' ( no, Sjømannskirken) is a religious organisation serving Norwegians and other Scandinavians travelling abroad. Founded in 1864, The Norwegian Seamen’s Mission – Sjømannsmisjo ...

in 1927 and worked in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

from 1927 to 1929 and the

South Georgia Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...

from 1929 to 1931. He was then stationed in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

from 1931 to 1932 and 1933 to 1946, and in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

from 1932 to 1933. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he supported the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

powers, among others with fundraising and the pamphlet ''Hold deg norsk''. From 1943 to the end of World War II he was stationed in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

as a spiritual adviser for aircraft pilots-in-training, who were about to assist in the invasion of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. He was decorated with the

Defence Medal 1940–1945 The Defence Medal 1940–1945 () is the award rewarded to those military and civilian personnel who participated in the fight against the German invasion and occupation of Norway between 1940 and 1945. The Defence Medal 1940–1945 can be awarde ...

and in 1946 the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

(Knight, First Class). In 1946 his family moved from Argentina to Oslo where he was hired as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at Petrus, now Sofienberg Church. He was the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

in Ris from 1953 to 1969. He was also a council member of ''Statens Velferdsråd for Handelsflåten'' from 1946 to 1964. He published one book, ''Under mange stjernehimler'' in 1966. He died during May 1971 in Oslo; having survived a heart attack in 1965, but then collapsed again (from the preacher's pulpit) in March 1971. He was buried at

Ris Church Ris Church (''Ris kirke'') is a church in Oslo, Norway. The Romanesque Revival style church is situated in a neighborhood of Ris in the borough of Vestre Aker in Oslo. The church was built in the spring of 1932 and was consecrated on 12 June ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eika, Sverre 1899 births 1971 deaths People from Skien Norwegian footballers Odds BK players Lyn Fotball players Norway international footballers University of Oslo alumni 20th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Norwegian expatriates in Argentina Norwegian expatriates in the United States Norwegian people of World War II Norwegian military chaplains World War II chaplains Association football midfielders