Born at England in 1885, one of three sons of Alfred Munn (1850-1937) and Frances Jane Eversfield Munn (1851-1939), on 21 September 1907 he married Nellie Kathleen Munn (1888-1973) at Brighton, England. The couple moved to Winnipeg in 1910, resettling in St. Vital in 1918. They had three children: Desmond Wilfred Munn (1908-2007), Maurice Kenyon Munn (c1917-1989), and Shirley Munn (1918-2008, wife of Robert C. Waddington).
An architect by trade, he was active in the Manitoba Association of Architects serving as its President (1944) and multiple terms as Secretary-Treasurer / Secretary (1919, 1922, 1938-1939, 1950). He worked with W. Percy Over (1926-1940) and William A. Martin (?-?), and was a partner of the firm Smith Munn Carter and Katelnikoff. A significant amount of his work involved schools, especially within his local municipality. Out of province projects included a 1946 expansion to Alexander McKenzie School in Fort Frances, Ontario.
He died at the St. Boniface Hospital on 28 December 1968.
Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
30 West Gate, Winnipeg
1926-1927
431 Avenue Taché, Winnipeg
1927-1928
Claratel Café (alterations)
341 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
1938
Demolished (?)
St. Boniface Kiwanis Model Bungalow
Lyndale Drive, Winnipeg
1944
1350 Grosvenor Avenue, Winnipeg
1946-1947
Norberry School (expansion)
900 St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg
1947
Tilston, Municipality of Two Borders
1947
Woodlawn School District No. 1499 / Woodlawn School (expansion)
1186 St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg
1947
Demolished (?)
Woodlawn School District No. 1499 / Woodlawn School (improvements)
1186 St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg
1948
Demolished (?)
911 Bond Street, Dauphin
1948
1410 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg
1948
770 St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg
1950
619 Des Meurons Street, Winnipeg
1950
Third Street Southwest, Portage la Prairie
1950-1951
Mennonite Brethren Institute (gymnasium and auditorium)
Talbot Avenue, Winnipeg
1959
See also:
Manitoba Business: Smith Carter and Katelnikoff / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers / Architecture49
Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Sussex men meet,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 September 1914, page 5.
“The Manitoba Association of Architects Examinations,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 March 1919, page 5.
“Architects elect,” Manitoba Free Press, 21 January 1922, page 15.
“Remodel cafe,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 February 1938, page 20.
“Manitoba Architects elect Edgar Prain,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 January 1939, page 2.
“Apple blossoms form setting for wedding,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 May 1941, page 8.
[Photo caption, Mrs. R.C. Waddington], Winnipeg Free Press, 24 December 1941, page 10.
“Tenders wanted [St. Boniface Kiwanis Model Bungalow],” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 May 1944, page 15.
“Three rooms to be added to Fort Frances School,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 September 1946, page 15.
“Tenders [Norberry School, six room addition],” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 January 1947, page 16.
“[Tenders - Tilston Consolidated School District],” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 March 1947, page 20.
“School District of Glenlawn No. 1499 [Woodlawn School; expansion],” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 March 1947, page 20.
“School District of Glenlawn No. 1499 [Glenlawn Collegiate; plumbing, heating, ventilation],” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 March 1949, page 34.
“Tenders [School District of Portage la Prairie No. 10, 18-room school and auditorium],” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 June 1949, page 23.
“5 tenders at Portage for school construction,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 June 1949, page 15.
“Portage schools’ money held up [Portage Central School],” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 August 1949, page 14.
“St. Boniface may get new 16-room school [Marion School],” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 September 1949, page 3.
“Trustee rap critic of school buildings,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 October 1949, page 3.
“Architects study model home plans,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 January 1950, page 4.
“St. Vital couple marks anniversary,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 October 1957, page 18.
“New building at Thompson,” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 July 1959, page 26.
“St. Vital couple wed sixty years,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 September 1967, page 18.
St. Boniface estate file #10159, Wilfrid Ewart Munn, Archives of Manitoba.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 1 January 1969, page 30.
Obituary [Nellie Kathleen Munn], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 December 1973, page 41.
Obituary [Maurice Kenyon Munn], Winnipeg Free Press, 15 July 1989, page 39.
Obituary [Desmond Wilfred Munn], Winnipeg Free Press, 15 September 2007.
Obituary [Shirley Waddington], Winnipeg Free Press, 28 May 2008, page 34.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Robert Hill and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 5 April 2024
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