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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.
Period
Principal
1917-1919
Peter P. Wohlgemuth
1919-1920
Albert L. Reimer
1920-1947
No Principal
1947-1952
Jacob Jacob Penner (1891-1969)
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
Period
Principal
1961-1970
Gerry B. Doerksen
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)
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).
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 KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.60321, W96.66527
denoted by symbol on the map above
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: 10 February 2024
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