Historic Sites of Manitoba: Brodie School No. 1854 (Stead, RM of Alexander)

The Brodie School District was established in March 1917 and a one-room schoolhouse operated in Stead in what later became the Rural Municipality of Alexander. In 1968, its catchment area became part of the Agassiz School Division. After the school closed, local students were bused to Beausejour. The building was purchased for $1 by Raymond Victor “Ray” Fetterly (1929-2005) and donated for use as a community hall. On 6 August 2016, a monument in front of the hall was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Stead Community Centre.

Among the teachers of Brodie School were Gustave Pfaff (Fall 1924 - Spring 1925), Jacob Lewis Arbuckle (Fall 1925 - Spring 1928), Elizabeth W. Ehman? (Fall 1928 - ?), Adolph Winzinowich (1948-1949), Peter Slonowsky (1949-1950), Dorothy Koswan (1950-1952), ? (1952-1957, Mrs. M. E. Dufault (1957-1958), ? (1958-1960), Nick Perchaliuk (1960-1963), J. M. Pachulak (1963), Catherine Lesosky (1963, 1967), Phyllis Carter (1964), Angus Lesosky (1964), and Walter Saarela (1964-1967).

The Stead Special Revenue School is also believed to have operated within the area from the late 1940s into the early 1950s, though its location is unknown. Limited records suggest it was a single-teacher operation, with a class typically of 10-or-less pupils. Among the teachers of Stead Special Revenue School were Mrs. Leorude? S. Deslrius? (1948-1949), Eliette A. Monchalin (1949-1950), and Elaine Ross Bose (1950-1951).

Brodie School (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 46. Brodie School (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 25. The former Brodie School building (August 2014) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Brodie School building (June 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Commemorative monument for the former Stead Community Centre (June 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.42730, W96.44608 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.

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.

“Stead,” Springfield Leader, by Gloria Soluk, 24 September 1957, page 1.

Obituary [Raymond Victor Fetterly], Interlake Spectator, 4 November 2005, page 29.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Brodie School District No. 1854 Cash Book, GR0565, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Nathan Kramer and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 30 January 2022

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