Historic Sites of Manitoba: Bernice School No. 547 (Municipality of Two Borders)

Near the school building is a monument, erected in July 1988, commemorating the teachers, students and families of Bernice School No. 547, which was established as Gould School at SW22-5-26W in what is now the Municipality of Two Borders, and operated between 1888 and 1914. It became Bernice (Berneice) School in 1914, situated at SE23-5-26, continuing until 1965 when it became part of Napinka Consolidated School No. 2369. A nearby station of the Canadian Pacific Railway, also named Bernice, existed at NE14-5-26 from 1906 to 1952.

Among the teachers of Bernice School were May Lee, Kathleen Newcomb, Miss Gillander, Thomas Greenway, Ethel Mills, Sadie Barker, Beatrice Fern Orriss, E. L. Blackwell (1925-1926), Gertrude Kinleg (1926-1927), C. B. Doughty (1927), Frances Wilman (1928-1930), Rossie McMunn (1930-1931), Doreen Blaker (1931-1933), Peggy McGregar (1933-1935), Bill Patterson (1935-1938), Mabel Taylor (1938-1940), Sabra Bradley (1941-1942), Hazel Roberts (1942-1943), Noreen A. Robinson (1943-1944), Douglas Wilkinson (1944-1945), Sarah Moen (1945-1946), Lucille Ramsey (1946-1947), Jim McKinnon (1947-1948), Jane Roblin (1948-1949), Mabel Kemaldian (1949-1950), Aldea Beudry (1950-1953), Bernice Woods (1953-1954), Raymond Duthie (1954-1955), Robert Hogland (1955), Elizabeth Asmundson (1956), Betty Cairns (1956-1959), Arlene Johnson (1960-1961), Elaine Harrison (1961-1962), and Doreen Kennedy (1962-1964).

Bernice School (no date) by George Hunter Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 88. The former Bernice School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 17. The former Bernice School building (August 2004) Source: Lynn Jones The former Bernice School building (July 2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Bernice School building and commemorative monument (July 2018) Source: George Penner Bernice commemorative monument (August 2021) Source: George Penner Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.39976, W100.87775 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

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.

Reflections of Time: A History of the RM of Albert by RM of Albert History Book, 1984. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.A43 Ref]

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

Obituary [Noreen A. Junson], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 October 2020.

We thank Lynn Jones, George Penner, and Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 17 November 2021

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