Educator, choir director.
Born at Winnipeg on 26 September 1906, daughter of Emily Xisra Le Cappelain (1881-1965) and Charles Gordon Cruikshank (1879-1970), she attended Laura Secord School and Kelvin Technical High School and graduated from the Central Normal School and University of Manitoba.
She taught at Lake Francis School (1926) and Norberry School (1926-1928) before joining the teaching staff of the Winnipeg School District (WSD) and worked at Dufferin School (1932-1935), Wolseley School (1935-1937), Isaac Brock School (1937-1945), Robert H. Smith School (1945-1954), Churchill High School (1955-1967), followed with tenure as the Assistant to the Supervisor of Music for Elementary Schools (?-1971). She retired in 1971, having taught 42 years.
She was also a founder (1944) and 26-year conductor of the Winnipeg Girls’ Choir. In recognition to her work, she received a City of Winnipeg Community Service Award (1965), Canadian Centennial Medal (1967), and Manitoba Centennial Medal (1970) from the Manitoba Historical Society. She was an Honourary Life Member of the Manitoba Music Educators’ Association, member of Canadian Music Council, adjudicator at many Western Canadian music festivals, and served on the Nominating Committee of the Westworth United Church.
She died at the Health Sciences Centre on 6 June 1987.
Birth [Thersia Beth Cruickshank] & marriage [Charles Gordon Cruikshank and Emily Xisra Le Cappelain] registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Obituary [Emily Xisra Cruikshank], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 April 1965, page 37.
“Receives medal,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 March 1968, page 19.
Obituary [Charles Gordon Cruikshank], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 August 1970, page 32.
“Cruikshank dissolves Girls Choir,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 September 1970, page 17.
“Winnipeg Girls' Choir,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 November 1970, New Leisure Page 8.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 9 June 1987, page 35.
“Girls Choir welcomes new recruits,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 August 2001, page B11.
St. John Anglican Cemetery burial transriptions, BillionGraves.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 9 August 2024
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