Educator.
Born at Wilksport, Ontario on 11 November 1889, son of Rev. George Jewitt of Blyth, Ontario, he graduated from the University of Toronto and Columbia University in New York. During the First World War, he served in the infantry and was wounded in action.
Arriving in Winnipeg in 1918, he taught mathematics at St. John’s High School (1918-1921) and Kelvin High School (1924-1932), then became Principal of Gordon Bell High School, a position he held for 23 years. He retired at age 64 years then came out of retirement to served as Principal of West Kildonan Collegiate (1955-1963). He retired a second time in 1963 but, at age 72, returned again to teach mathematics at Garden City Collegiate. He retired for the third and final time in 1965.
On 29 June 1921, he married Etta Ruth Rundle (1897-1979, daughter of William Pawley Rundle) at Winnipeg. They had no children. He served as President of the Manitoba Educational Association (1943-1944). He received numerous awards and honours during his lifetime, among which were Manitoba’s Golden Boy Award (1961) and an honourary degree from the University of Manitoba (1964).
He died at the Winnipeg General Hospital on 11 March 1967 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery. He is commemorated by O. V. Jewitt Community School in Winnipeg.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: O. V. Jewitt Community School (66 Neville Street, Winnipeg)
Marriage registration [Oliver Victor Jewitt, Etta Ruth Rundle], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Profile of a principal,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 June 1964.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 13 March 1967.
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
The History of the Manitoba Educational Association by Ernest Butterworth, MEd thesis, Faculty of Graduate Study and Research, University of Manitoba, 1965.
Obituary [E. Ruth Jewitt], Winnipeg Free Press, 5 November 1979, page 41.
We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional informtion used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 2 August 2023
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