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Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Alex Robertson Museum is situated in Alonsa in the Rural Municipality of Alonsa. It is open during the summer, on Sundays, from 1 to 5 PM, or at other times by appointment. On the museum grounds are monuments commemorating local veterans of the First World War and Second World War (erected by the Alonsa Legion Branch No. 151), and the Alonsa Village School.
In 1919, the village of Alonsa was established as railway point, at a site within the Iris School District. Local children attended school three kilometers west of the community until 1925, when the population had grown enough to warrant construction of a school within the town. A high school was established using a one-room schoolhouse brought from the former Reedy Creek School District (situated at 21-20-11W) and two more classrooms were added later. Classes were also held in the community hall, implements dealership, and church basement. By 1967, the elementary and high school had been consolidated into Turtle River School Division. The last classes were held in June 1969 and the former school building was converted into a school bus shop. It became the Alex Robertson Museum in 1985. A monument commemorating the school was erected in July 1998 with financial support from former students and teachers, as well as the provincial government.
Period
Principal
1928-1929
Florence Mae Shirtliffe (1903-2006)
1929-1930
Margaret M. Street
1930-1933
Frank Benbow Fox (1890-1964)
1933-1934
William Stanley “Bill” Dunlop (1912-1991)
1934-1935
Mary Crain (1906-1997)
1935-1936
Frank Benbow Fox (1890-1964)
1936-1937
George Oswald Hinds (1906-1969)
1937-1939
Frank Benbow Fox (1890-1964)
1940-1941
Cecil Victor Gunn (1894-1981)
1941-1942
S. Shewchuk
1942-1943
Lloyd McDermott
1943-1944
?
1944-1945
Maurice Peter Kalushka (1918-2002)
1945-1946
Peter Black
1946-1948
Douglas Alexander Thomson (c1919-1965)
1948
Joseph Charles Flood (1924-2009)
1949-1952
John Norfolk Evans (1912-2008)
1952-1954
H. Kowalchuk
1954-1955
L. A. Gendreau
1955-1957
Maurice Kohut (1926-2020)
1957-1959
Miss Lena Braun
1959-1960
J. T. McKenzie
1960-1961
1961-1962
C. J. Bender
1962-1965
Robert F. Bishop
1965-1966
C. N. Desrosiers
1966-1978
?
1978-1984
Steven Ronald Scrupa (1942-2016)
1984-1985
Walter Zukewich
School Year
Teachers
1940-1941
Cecil Victor Gunn (grades 7-11)
1941-1942
S. Shewchuk (grades 9-11)
1942-1943
Lloyd McDermott (grades 7-11)
1943-1944
?
1944-1945
Maurice Peter Kalushka (grades 7-11)
1945-1946
Peter Black (grades 7-11)
1946-1947
Douglas Alexander Thomson (grades 7-11)
1947-1948
Margaret M. Adams (grades 1-7, 1948), Dorothy O. Sellman (grades 1-7, 1947), Douglas Alexander Thomson (grades 8-11), E. M. Trotter (grades 1-7, 1948)
1948-1949
William Peter Chrustie (grades 1-8), John Norfolk Evans (grades 7-11, 1949), Joseph Charles Flood (grades 7-11, 1948)
1949-1950
Irma M. R. Van Achte (grades 1-8), John Norfolk Evans (grades 7-11)
1950-1951
John Norfolk Evans (grades 7-11)
1951-1952
John Norfolk Evans (grades 7-11)
1952-1978
?
1978-1979
Robert F. Bishop, Caroline Cabak, Joan Chattergoon, Arva Hryciuk, Dona Krawetz, Ronald Lund, Annette Pulak, Frederick Pulak, John Ukrainec, Patricia Zeglen
1979-1980
?
1980-1981
Robert F. Bishop, Caroline Cabak, Arva Hryciuk, Dona Krawetz, Ronald Lund, Annette Pulak, Frederick Pulak, John Ukrainec, Patricia Zeglen
1981-1982
?
1982-1983
Robert F. Bishop, Caroline Cabak, Beverly Chuhai, Dona Krawetz, Ronald Lund, Annette Pulak, Frederick Pulak, Jim Rastel, John Ukrainec
1983-1984
?
1984-1985
Robert F. Bishop, Caroline Cabak, Beverly Chuhai, Debra Folwark, Albert Fontaine, Ronald Lund, James Rastel, Tara Ross, Steven R. Scrupa, Janice Ukrainec, John Ukrainec
Among the other teachers of Alonsa School was Harvey L. Walker.
Alex Robertson Museum (August 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Agricultural equipment at the Alex Robertson Museum (August 2021)
Source: George Penner
Alonsa War Memorial at the Alex Robertson Museum (August 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Alonsa Village School commemorative monument at the Alex Robertson Museum (August 2012)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.80084, W98.97416
denoted by symbol on the map above
Name
Occupation
Service
Rank
Birth Date
Death Date
Leslie Alfred Evelyn Botte
[Kinosota]Farmer
Canadian Forestry Corps
Sergeant
10 August 1887
7 December 1918
Farmer
8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Private
8 July 1898
10 November 1917
Louis Curtis
[Alonsa]Farmer
8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Private
20 December 1879
11 August 1918
Archibald Edwards
[Kinosota]Farmer
44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Private
1 February 1886
28 September 1918
Alexander Thomas James Favelle
[Kinosota, Next of Kin]Labourer
2nd Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops
Sapper
23 July 1892
30 March 1918
Joseph Horsley
[Kinosota]Farmer
24th Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Private
22 October 1897
9 August 1918
Charles Moar
[Kinosota]Labourer
43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Private
20 March 1892
6 March 1918
Angus Rupert George Moore
[Kinosota]Farmer
43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Private
4 August 1894
26 August 1917
Walter Moore
[Kinosota]Labourer
44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Private
8 August 1894
27 April 1918
Ernest Leslie Seale
[Kinosota]Farmer
44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry
Private
30 September 1896
4 November 1917
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Alonsa United Church (Alonsa, RM of Alonsa)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Iris School No. 1920 (RM of Alonsa)
One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.
For the names of First World War casualities from Manitoba who do not appear on any physical monument in the province, see the Manitoba Historical Society War Memorial. If you know of a name that is omitted from this list, please contact the MHS War Memorial Researcher Darryl Toews (darryl@mhs.mb.ca).
Soldiers of the First World War - Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Veterans Affairs Canada.
Financial support for research reported on this page was provided by the Manitoba Heritage Grants Program (2015-2016).
“Add one position in Turtle R.,” Dauphin Herald, 6 September 1978, page 2.
“Teachers begin year in Turtle River S.D.,” Dauphin Herald, 10 September 1980, page 24.
“Teachers ready in Turtle River,” Dauphin Herald, 1 September 1982, page 18.
“Teachers in Turtle River schools,” Dauphin Herald, 9 October 1984, page 30.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Iris School District No. 1920 - Daily Registers, GR2064, Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Nathan Kramer, Ed Arndt, George Penner, Calvin Chrustie, and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Darryl Toews.
Page revised: 15 June 2024
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