Memorable Manitobans: Isobel St. Clair Loutit (1909-2009)

Educator, technologist.

Born at Selkirk on 18 July 1909, second eldest of seven children born to Peter Robert Loutit and Margaretta Grant Reekie (1879-1951), she graduated with a mathematics degree from the University of Manitoba in 1928.

From 1929 to 1942, she taught at Mountainside School (?-?), Rondeau School (1932-1934), and Polson School (1939-1940, 1941-1942). At Winnipegosis School she was Assistant Principal for five years after which she taught in East Kildonan. During the Second World War, she responded to a government advertisement for women with mathematics and science degrees and became involved in the production of the AA Predictor. This device predated radar and predicted the path of oncoming planes which allowed the plotting of the trajectory of anti-aircraft guns. When the war ended, she went to work at Northern Electric Company, now Nortel. She became an active participant in the Association for Quality Control, both in Canada and the United States.

Upon retirement in Montreal, she compiled a history of First Baptist Church in Montreal. She also spearheaded the committee compiling and producing The Celts of Compton County, a history of the Scots in the Eastern Townships.

In 1989, she returned to Winnipeg where she died unmarried on 19 April 2009 and was buried in the Little Britain Cemetery.

Sources:

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 25 April 2009.

“The ’09 honour roll,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 January 2010, page H4.

We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 21 November 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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