Educator.
Born at Winnipeg on 14 November 1914, daughter of Mary Smigel (1892-1976) and Theodore Smigel (1889-1961), her career as a teacher spanned 44 years. She taught at Oakburn School (1933-1936), High Plains School (1938-1939), Fraserwood School (1939-1940), Florence Nightingale School (1941-1945), Norquay School (1945-1951), and Earl Grey School (1951-1955). In 1955, she became the first female Principal in Winnipeg of Ukrainian background, serving at Ashland School (1955-1959), Pinkham School (1959-1965), William Whyte School (1965-1973), and Lord Nelson School (1973-1979).
Over the years, she was actively involved in many service organizations, receiving a Alpha Omega Alumnae Woman of the Year Award, a City of Winnipeg Community Service Award (1980), and a Centennial Medal (1967) for teaching excellence. She received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Manitoba in 2004. She was a founding member of Altrusa International of Winnipeg and she served as the first Canadian Governor of Altrusa International, District 7 from 1980 to 1982. She planned and promoted education and health with projects at the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Holy Family Nursing Home, Millennium Library, University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, and other literary foundations. After her retirement she had two art exhibitions at Fleet Galleries in Winnipeg.
She died at Winnipeg on 10 February 2008 and was buried in the All Saints Cemetery.
Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Frederick Smigel], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 January 1961, page 20.
Obituary [Mary Smigel], Winnipeg Free Press, 5 March 1976, page 34.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 12 February 2008.
“Manitobans’ legacy a better province,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 January 2009, page B2.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
Winnipeg School Division: Celebrating One Hundred Fifty Years, 1871-2021 by Winnipeg School Division, 2021.
We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 September 2024
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