Historic Sites of Manitoba: Killarney School No. 252 (Killarney, RM of Killarney-Turtle Mountain)

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

The first school in the vicinity of Killarney was erected around 1884, on the road south to Lena and the US border. A two-storey, four-classroom brick and stone school was erected in town between Fall 1905 and early 1906, based on a design by Winnipeg architect J. H. G. Russell. Construction was supervised by stonemason Samuel Hossack (1832-1913).

As one-room schools in the surrounding area closed during the 1960s, their students came to Killarney School. Among them were Lyonshall School No. 223, Wakopa School No. 308, West Lake School No. 311, Oak Ridge School No. 328, Northcote School No. 396, Fairfield School No. 418, Glendenning School No. 552, Jaques School No. 605, Hullett School No. 700, Long River School No. 720, and Lake Lorne School No. 1105. The Killarney schools were eventually closed and demolished, and the site is now a public green space.

A plaque listing the names of high school students killed during the First World War is held at the J. A. V. David Museum.

Principals (High School)

Period	Principal
1898-1900	R. R. Earle
1900-1901	Hugh William Watson (1872-?)
1901-1904	Fred C. Wilson
1904-1909	David J. Hartley
1909-1910	William Joseph Cram (1861-1940)
1910-1912	?
1912-1920	Rollie Lee Miles (1889-1976)
1920-1927	Howard Robert Haines (1891-1974)
1927-1930	John Elwin Laird (1876-1950)
1930-1934	Arni Kristinson (1883-1969)
1934-1936	George Isaac Herman Garrett (1884-1977)
1936-1938	John Albert “Jack” George (1899-1970)
1938-1940	Charles William Havelock (1906-2000)
1940-1941	George Harold Laycup (1902-1960)
1941-1953	Edgar John Jarvis (1894-1972)
1953-1954	Harold V. Vidal
1954-1970	Robert Stanley “Stan” McGill (1909-1994)
1970-1975	O. Al Olson
1975-1978	Nick Olynyk
1978	Garry Campbell
1979-1980	Len Neufeld
1980-1988	Levi Reimer
1988-1996	Dr. Bob Gustafson
1996-2000	Rob MacTavish
2000-?	Terry Beazley

Principals (Elementary)

Period	Principal
1953-1956	John Thomas Wherrett (1932-2011)
1956-1969	Ed Mauthe

Vice-Principals (High School)

Period	Principal
1959	Harold V. Vidal
1962-1975	Alvin James “Al” Hill (1922-2010)
1970-1971	Ed Mauthe
1972-1974	Nick Olynyk
1975-1978	Garry Campbell
1975-1976	Bill McBride
1977-1987	Richard Dow
1988-1995	Rob MacTavish
1995-2002	Con Erickson
2002-?	Darlene Shaw

Teachers

Among the other teachers at Killarney School were Ethel Kinley, T. Albert Scholes, Mr. Watson, Rufus Earle, D. H. Hartley, Mr. Finkbiener, Miss Jennie Sharman, Miss Dowler, Miss MacGregor, Miss Hopwood, Miss Parker, Annie Eccles Kent, Arthur F. Kerr, Bill Welsh, Lois M. Falloon, Hildur Emily Sandberg, and Norine Isla Smith Kellet.

Photos & Coordinates

Killarney High School building erected in 1906 (no date) by W. J. Parr Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 6. Postcard view of the Killarney High School (no date) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0031. Postcard view of the Killarney High School (no date) Source: Rob McInnes, MN03646. Postcard view of Killarney Elementary School, left, and Killarney High School, right (no date) by P. C. Edwards Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2012-0034 Killarney Schools (October 1963) Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7454, Album 21, Page 57. Killarney School (1967) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Killarney 5. The former Killarney School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1382. The former Killarney School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1383. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.18069, W99.66552 denoted by symbol on the map above

First World War Casualties from the Killarney High School

Name	Occupation	Service	Rank	Birth Date	Death Date
Thomas Lewis Briggs [Killarney, Next of Kin, Wesley College]	Student	5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1 July 1895	2 October 1916
Charles Frederick David [Killarney]	?	97th Squadron, Royal Air Force	Lieutenant	1 August 1889	14 August 1918
George Edward Haight [Killarney]	Drug Clerk	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	25 October 1896	10 November 1917
Henry Roy Halladay [Killarney, Vimy Ridge]	Student	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	9 May 1892	10 April 1917
Jesse Harold McFadden [Armoury, Killarney, Next of Kin, Pilot Mound, Wawanesa, Wawanesa]	Clergyman	10th Field Ambulance, Canadian Army Medical Corps	Private	22 October 1891	16 September 1916
Clifford James Moir [Killarney, Manitoba College, Masonic, Next of Kin]	Student	217th Squadron, Royal Air Force	Lieutenant	13 March 1894	30 June 1918
William Gowan Watson Moxley [Killarney]	School Teacher	5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	5 July 1893	9 April 1917
Norman Cleland Treleaven [Bank of Hamilton, Killarney]	Bank Clerk	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	4 February 1898	8 August 1918

Sources:

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

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

Killarney Memories by J. C. Treleaven, Manitoba Pageant, Volume 23, Number 3, Spring 1978.

“Killarney, Man,” Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map, Archives of Manitoba.

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.

More Reflections: R.M. of Turtle Mountain, Town of Killarney, 1982-2007, page 40.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 27 May 2023

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