Historic Sites of Manitoba: Blumenhof School No. 64 (RM of Hanover)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Blumenhof School District was organized formally in November 1878 and a school building was erected in the hamlet of Blumenhof (“flower garden” in German, spelled Blumenhoff in some sources) at 23-7-6E in what is now the Rural Municipality of Hanover. The building was moved a mile north some time later. In 1900, a new school was built a half mile south of the former location, on 25-7-6E, and the old school was converted into a barn.

In 1932, this building was moved to 26-7-6E then was replaced by a two-classroom building at the same site, in 1950. A year later, a third classroom was added in the basement. The district was dissolved in 1968 and the school became part of the Hanover Unitary School Division. In need of more classroom space, the building from Ridgewood South School was brought to the site and the school was kept open until a new school opened in the village of Blumenort. Then the building closed, was sold, and renovated into an apartment block. In 2013, a commemorative sign was erected at the site by the EastMenn Historical Society.

Principals (Blumenhof School)

Period	Principal
1917-1919	Peter P. Wohlgemuth
1919-1920	Albert L. Reimer
1920-1947	No Principal
1947-1952	Jacob J. Penner
1952-1959	Bernhard Barkman “Ben” Dueck
1959-1961	Gerry B. Doerksen
1961-1966	Cornelius D. “Neil” Wiebe
1966-1969	Henry F. Schultz
1969 onward	See Blumenort School

Principals (Blumenhof High School)

Period	Principal
1961-1970	Gerry B. Doerksen

Teachers (Blumenhof School)

Period	Teachers
1917-1918	John C. Reimer (junior grades), Peter P. Wohlgemuth (senior grades)
1918-1919	Albert L. Reimer (grades 1-5), Peter P. Wohlgemuth (grades 3-5)
1919-1920	Maria R. Unger (grades 1-3, 1919), Peter P. Wohlgemuth (grades 1-3, 1919), Albert L. Reimer (grades 1-5)
1920-1947	See below
1947-1948	Jacob J. Penner (grades 5-8), Helen Willms (grades 1-4)
1948-1949	Jacob J. Penner (grades 4-8), Helen Willms (grades 1-4)
1949-1950	Jacob J. Penner (grades 4-8), Helen Willms (grades 1-3)
1950-1951	Katherine Ruth Hoemsen (grades 1-2, 1951), Jacob J. Penner (grades 4-8), Helen Willms (grades 1-4)
1951-1952	Peter Abram Hiebert (grades 3-5), Jacob J. Penner (grades 6-10), Helen Willms (grades 1-2)
1952-1953	Bernhard Barkman “Ben” Dueck (grades 6-10), Peter Abram Hiebert (grades 3-5), Helen Willms (grades 1-2)
1953-1954	Bernhard Barkman “Ben” Dueck (grades 6-10), Susan Friesen (grades 1-2), Peter Abram Hiebert (grades 3-5)
1954-1955	Bernhard Barkman “Ben” Dueck (grades 6-9), Susan Friesen (grades 1-2), Peter Abram Hiebert (grades 3-5)
1955-1956	Bernhard Barkman “Ben” Dueck (grades 9-11), Susan Friesen (grades 1-3), Peter Abram Hiebert (grades 4-8)
1956-1957	Bernhard Barkman “Ben” Dueck (grades 9-11), Susan Friesen (grades 1-3), John P. Kornelsen (grades 4-8)
1957-1958	Bernhard Barkman “Ben” Dueck (grades 9-11), John P. Kornelsen (grades 4-8), Laura Plett (grades 1-4)
1958-1959	Bernhard Barkman “Ben” Dueck (grades 9-11), Irvin H. Penner (grades 4-8), Elvera Marie Schroeder (grades 1-3)
1959-1960	Gerry B. Doerksen (grades 9-11), William K. Schellenberg (grades 4-8), Elvera Marie Schroeder (grades 1-3)
1960-1961	Gerry B. Doerksen (grades 9-11), Anne Sawatzky (grades 1-4), Cornelius D. “Neil” Wiebe (grades 5-8)
1961-1962	Anne Sawatzky (grades 1-4), Cornelius D. “Neil” Wiebe (grades 5-8)
1962-1963	Agnes Friesen (grades 1-4), Cornelius D. “Neil” Wiebe (grades 5-8)
1963-1964	Agnes Friesen (grades 1-4), Cornelius D. “Neil” Wiebe (grades 5-8)
1964-1965	Mary Kroeker (grades 1-4), Cornelius D. “Neil” Wiebe (grades 5-8)
1965-1966	Mary Kroeker (grades 1-4), Cornelius D. “Neil” Wiebe (grades 5-8)
1966-1967	Marlene Friesen (grades 1-4), Henry F. Schultz (grades 5-8)
1967-1968	Florence D. Friesen (grades 1-4), William Unger “Bill” Penner (grades 5-8)
1968-1969	Elma Brandt (grades 3-4), Florence Friesen (grades 1-2), Helen Kornelsen (grades 5-6), William Unger “Bill” Penner (grades 7-8)
1969-1970	William Unger “Bill” Penner (grade 9), Donald Roy Toews (grade 7), Arthur B. “Art” Wiebe (grade 8)
1970-1971	Norbert Penner (grade 7), William Unger “Bill” Penner (grade 9), Arthur B. “Art” Wiebe (grade 8)

Teachers (Blumenhof High School)

Period	Teachers
1961-1962	Gerry B. Doerksen (grades 10-11), Glenn R. Klassen (grade 9)
1962-1963	Gerry B. Doerksen (grades 10-11), Theodor Cornelius Martens (grade 9)
1963-1963	Gerry B. Doerksen (grades 10-11), Theodor Cornelius Martens (grade 9)

Among the other teachers of Blumenhof School were Heinrich H. Enns (1906-1908), Franz K. Goossen (1909-1910, 1912-1913), Jakob I. Dueck (1910-1911), Jacob H. Unrau (1911-1912), Reinrich Rempel (1913-1914), P. J. Loewen (1914-1917), Albert L. Reimer (1920-1921), John S. Guenther (1921-1923), Johann C. Reimer (1923-1925, 1926-1928), P. S. Guenther (1925-1926), Waldon A. Barkman (1928-1929, 1930-1935), Helen B. Janz (1929-1930), Hermann Hermann Janzen (1935-1938), J. E. Suderman (1938-1942), Harold Julius Suderman (1942-1943), Frank John Willms (1943-1945), ? (1945-1946), Helena Braun (1946-1947).

Photos & Coordinates

One of the earlier Blumenhof School buildings (no date) by A. A. Herriot Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 27. The three-classroom Blumenhof School, built in 1950 (1960s) Source: John K. Schellenberg, Schools - Our Heritage, 1985. The former Blumenhof School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1212. The former Blumenhof School building (October 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Blumenhof School commemorative sign (November 2020) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.60321, W96.66527 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

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.

Schools - Our Heritage: From 46 School Districts to Hanover Unitary School Division, 1878-1968 by John K. Schellenberg, Steinbach: The Board of the Hanover School Division No. 15, May 1985.

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

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Blumenhof School District No. 64 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Glen Klassen and Ernest Braun (EastMenn Historical Society) and Rose Kuzina for providing information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough

Page revised: 27 January 2022

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