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In the fall of 1906, Margaret Scott called a meeting of the Canadian Women’s Union (CWU) to present her concerns about care for the elderly. Since its founding in 1882, the CWU had overseen several different institutions providing housing and care to needy women and children. However, a number of other agencies in Winnipeg were then pursuing the same or similar lines of work. Scott’s speech about the lack of welfare services for the elderly in Winnipeg resonated with the Union. Before the end of the year, they converted their building on Lydia Street, then operating as a refuge for women, to establish Winnipeg’s first home for the elderly.
The Middlechurch site, located just north of Winnipeg on the Red River, was purchased by the CWU in 1907 from the federal government, where they had operated an Indian residential school, until it was partly destroyed by fire. An undamaged three-story building, the former superintendent’s home, served initially as the residence for the Winnipeg Old Folks Home, as it was then known. In 1909, repairs to the larger school building converted it into the main residence. To be admitted, persons had to have both medical and housing needs.
Through the 1920s, residents of the Home—furnished in 1915 with a 15-person hospital wing—numbered between 75 and 80; the opening of a new building in 1930 expanded living and working space for residents and staff. Donald D. McLean, who became the Home’s Superintendent in 1927, reportedly walked all the way from Winnipeg to Middlechurch when he heard about the job opening. The organization, which is today known as Middlechurch Home and provides care to some 200 residents, was one of The Winnipeg Foundation’s first grant recipients.
Period
President
1883
Mrs. Galston
1884-1890
Mrs. Amos Rowe
1891-1911
Marion Samuel Bryce (1839-1920)
1911-1912
Mrs. Thomson
1912-1913
Mrs. T. W. Taylor
1914-1938
Mrs. Charles Little
1938-1943
Mrs. F. H. Hughes
1943-1948
Mrs. A. C. McMillan
1948-1953
Mrs. C. S. Wiggins
1953-1958
Mrs. J. G. Alexander
1958-1962
Mrs. A. K. Stephens
1962-1964
Mrs. W. L. Palk
1964-1965
Mrs. G. B. Scrivener
1965-1967
Mrs. Desmond Smith
1967-1969
Mrs. R. T. Kerr
1969-1971
Mrs. E. F. Willis
1971-1973
Mrs. C. M. Stovel
1973-1974
Mrs. H. D. Christie
1974-1975
Mrs. W. M. Auld
1975-1977
Mrs. T. D. Melhuish
1977-1978
Mrs. R. T. Morris
1978-1981
A. Marguerite “Bonnie” Kerr
1981-1983
Ethel DuVal
1983-1985
Joyce McFarlane
1985-1987
Jessie Saunders
1987-1990
Norma Kaisaris
1990-1992
Vern G. Cooke
1992-1994
William “Bill” McGilvery
1994-?
Gwen Sharp
Period
Superintendent / Executive Director
1927-1953
Donald D. McLean (?-?)
1953-1974
William “Bill” Smith (1913-1992)
1975-1985
Gelda Marian Lowther (1920-2000)
1985-?
Laurie Holgate
Middlechurch Home (October 2017)
Source: George Penner
Aerial view of Middlechurch Home (July 2019)
Source: George PennerSite Location (lat/long): N49.97907, W97.06434
denoted by symbol on the map above
Our Heritage: The Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg, 1883-1995, Winnipeg: The Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg, 1996.
This page was prepared by Conrad Sweatman, Gordon Goldsborough, and George Penner.
Page revised: 23 May 2021
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