Educator, cleric.
Born at Boston, Massachusetts on 15 July 1874, he grew up in Nova Scotia and became a Minister of the Methodist Church. Between 1891 and 1905, he married Nova Scotia-born Lillian Blanche Taylor (1875-1954), and moved to Manitoba in 1902. They had eight children: Mary Auleen Chipman Sturk (1905-?, wife of L. Birnie), John Leslie Sturk (1906-?, husband of Phyllis Mary Violet Ewens, son-in-law of James Mathewson Ewens), Alice Beryl Sturk (1909-?, wife of Roger F. A. Thew), Irma Vivian Sturk (c1911-?, wife of Richard Osmond Burrell), Francis Lillian Sturk (1913-?, wife of Clifford Paul Haltalin), Lorna Blanche Sturk (1915-?), Sidney Le Roy Sturk (1918-?), and Annette Patricia Sturk (1920-?).
He arrived at Winnipeg in 1902 and, after further studies at Wesley College, was posted by the Methodist Conference to congregations around the province, including Dugald (?-1905), Carman (1905-?), La Riviere (1906), Woodlake (1907), Roland (1908, summer supply Minister), and near Newdale (1909).
Around 1909, he became a teacher, working in the Shoal Lake area (1910), followed by tenure at Springside, Saskatchewan (1911), after which he returned to Manitoba. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace (1915) and may have also taught in the Fairford area (1915) prior to teaching at Park View School (1915-1916), in the Rural Municipality of Eriksdale (c1918), and at Altamont School (?-?), Ninette School (1922-1923, Principal), Woodsworth School (1924-1926), Lavallee School (1926-1928), and Golden Bay School (1929-1930, Principal). He retired and took up residence in Winnipeg where he resumed active engagement in church affairs, as well as writing for the Berean Bible Institute.
He died at the St. Boniface Hospital on 9 October 1939 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.
Birth [Alice Beryl Sturk / Sidney Le Roy Sturk / Annette Patricia Sturk], marriage [John Leslie Sturk / Irma Vivian Sturk / Francis Lillian Sturk], and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth [Lillian Blanche Taylor / Mary Auleen Chipman Sturk / Francis Lillian Sturk / Lorna Blanche Sturk] registration, Nova Scotia Vital Statistics.
1906 and 1926 Canada censuses, Library and Archives Canada.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
“S.S. Institutes,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 November 1903, page 19.
“The Methodist district meeting,” Manitoba Free Press, 26 May 1905, page 8.
“Manitoba Methodists confer at Kenora,” Manitoba Free Press, 9 June 1905, page 1.
“Methodists and politics,” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 June 1907, page 2.
“Close of Conference,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 June 1907, page 8.
“First draft made by Manitoba Conference,” Brandon Weely Sun, 18 June 1908, page 1.
“teachers' annual convention,” Russell Banner, 20 October 1910, page 1.
“Gazette names 70 as hired; 7 fired; two quit,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 November 1915, page 6.
“Irma Vivian Sturk weds Dr. Richard O. Burrell in Young Church today,” Winnipeg Tribune, 20 June 1936, page 13.
“Engagements [Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Sturk ...],” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 June 1937, page 10.
“Weds in London,” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 September 1937, page 32.
“John N. Sturk, teacher, minister, succumbs, aged 65,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 October 1939, page 21.
Death notice, Winnipeg Tribune, 10 October 1939, page 18.
Engagements [Mrs. John N. Sturk], Winnipeg Tribune, 13 August 1941, page 10.
Obituary [Mrs. Lillian Blanche Sturk],” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 May 1954, page 32.
Brookside Cemetery burial transcriptions, City of Winnipeg.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 4 November 2024
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