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In 1891, the Oak River School building was moved into Oak River from its former site at SW4-14-22W in what is now the Rural Municipality of Oakview. Between 1906 and 1907, that modest building was replaced by a two-storey brick veneer structure designed by Brandon architect W. A. Elliott and built at a cost of about $12,000. The four-classroom building opened in the spring of 1907 but was destroyed by fire on 21 October 1908. A replacement school was constructed during the summer of 1909 and opened later that year.
In May 1917, Oak River School was consolidated with three rural schools, Bankburn School No. 1098, Maplewood School No. 662, and Wheatland School No. 304, to form the Oak River Consolidated School District No. 253.
The third Oak River School was built in 1929. It had four classrooms, with two more added in 1945. It closed in 1977 when the remaining students moved to the Junior High School building.
Period
Principal
1907-1909
James Henry Kiteley (1871-1955)
1909-1910
Annie Slattery
1910-1913
?
1913-1914
Maggie R. Stewart
1914-1916
D. W. Hoare
1916-1917
John A. “Jack” Urquhart (?-?)
1917-1921
Johann Gestur Johannsson (1886-1978)
1921-1923
Lewis Emmett Lynd (1876-1961)
1923-1925
John Hazelett Duffy (1878-1942)
1925-1929
Wilbur Walter Crosby (1893-1941)
1930-1932
Eleanor Collison
1932-1937
Ernest Sidney Heys (1903-1979)
1937-1940
William Lyle [Decker] Dyker (1915-1994)
1940-1941
Charles William Havelock (1906-2000)
1941-1942
Arthur Milford Preston (1908-1981)
1942-1944
Frank Edward White (1915-1994)
1944-1945
Claude Amnesty Joyce (1908-1997)
1945-1958
Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (1910-1990)
1958-1959
Rene Allen Ollivier (?-1982)
1959-1960
Dennis Babcock
1960-1961
Rene A. Ollivier (?-1982)
1961-1962
Joseph Edwin Murphy (1897-1973)
1962-1967
Glen J. Hammond
1967-1968
Oliver Glen Olmstead (?-1997)
1968-1973
J. Forsyth
Among the early teachers of Oak River School were Harvey Elgin Hicks (1890s), Norman Ewart Brett, and Alfred James Bell.
School Year
Teachers
1917-1918
Lily M. Decker
1918-1919
Nina R. Begg (1919), Anna Stuart (1918)
1919-1920
Nina R. Begg
1920-1921
Islay A. McIntyre (grades 3-5), Laura M. Speers (grades 1-2)
1921-1922
Cecile H. Mitchell (grades 1-3), Laura M. Speers (grades 4-5)
1922-1923
Laura M. Speers (grades 4-5)
1923-1924
Helen E. Hepworth (grades 4-5, 1923; grades 5-6, 1924), Stella G. Laing (grades 1-2)
1924-1925
Ermina Shier (grades 4-6)
1925-1926
Ester Olive Birch (grade 9), Allan Shafer Bowman (grades 6-8), Mabel Margaret Buchannan (grades 2-3), Wilbur Walter Crosby (grades 10-11), Doris M. Fester (grade 1), Ermina Shier (grades 4-5)
1926-1927
Wilbur Walter Crosby (grades 10-11)
1927-1928
Helen Fredrica Bennest (grades 1-2), Wilbur Walter Crosby (grades 10-11)
1928-1929
Helen Fredrica Bennest (grades 1-3), Wilbur Walter Crosby (grades 10-11)
1929-1930
Eleanor Collison (grade 11), Mary Anne Isbister (grades 1-2), Bertha E. Nelson (grade 9, 1930), Gertrude Blanche Perrin (grade 9, 1929)
1930-1931
Ethel L. Burnside (grades 3-4), Eleanor Collison (grade 10-11)
1931-1932
Ethel L. Burnside (grades 3-4), Eleanor Collison (grades 10-11), Minnie Hutchinson (grades 5-6), Beatrice Roberta Hyndman (grades 1-2), Eldred George Miller (grades 7-9)
1932-1933
Ethel L. Burnside (grades 3-4), Ernest Sidney Heys (grades 9-11), Beatrice Roberta Hyndman (grades 1-2), Eldred George Miller (grades 7-8)
1933-1934
Ethel L. Burnside (grades 3-4), Ernest Sidney Heys (grades 9-11), Minnie Hutchinson (grades 5-6), Beatrice Roberta Hyndman (grades 1-2), Eldred George Miller (grades 7-8)
1934-1935
Ethel L. Burnside (grades 3-4), Ernest Sidney Heys (grades 9-11), Beatrice Roberta Hyndman (grades 1-2), Leslie Irving Spear (grades 7-8)
1935-1936
Ernest Sidney Heys (grades 9-11), Beatrice Roberta Hyndman (grades 1-2), Leslie Irving Spear (grades 7-8)
1936-1937
Ernest Sidney Heys (grades 12), Beatrice Roberta Hyndman (grades 1-3), Myrtle Jean Lelond (grades 7-8), Margaret Jean Reid (grade 11)
1937-1938
Grace Elizabeth Armstrong (grades 3-4), Margaret Jean Crindle (grades 1-3), William Lyle [Decker] Dyker (grades 11-12), Frank Edward White (grades 7-8)
1938-1939
Grace Elizabeth Armstrong (grades 9-10), Margaret Jean Crindle (grades 1-3), William Lyle [Decker] Dyker (grades 11-12), Frank Edward White (grades 7-8)
1939-1940
Grace Elizabeth Armstrong (grades 9-10), William Lyle [Decker] Dyker (grades 11-12), Willa Margaret Harvey (grades 1-3), Melvin George Pipe (grade 7-8)
1940-1941
Catherine Frieda Andrews (grades 7-8), Emma Clarke (grades 4-6), Charles William Havelock (grades 11-12), Harold Murray Lord (grades 9-10), Marion Agnes McCrindle (grades 1-3)
1941-1942
Shirley Lillian Johnson (grades 1-2), ? (grades 3-5), Harold Murray Lord (grades 9-10), Arthur Milford Preston (grades 11-12), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8)
1942-1943
Elva Matilda Ferguson (grades 9-10), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8), Frank Edward White (grades 11-12), Margaret Jane White (grades 1-2), Mary Eileen Williams (grades 3-5)
1943-1944
Winnifred Norah Hulbert (grades 1-2), ? (grades 3-5), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8), Dorothy Helen Primmer (grades 9-10), Frank Edward White (grades 11-12)
1944-1945
Winnifred Norah Hulbert (grades 1-2), Claude Amnesty Joyce (grades 11-12), Ellen Louise McFarland (grades 3-5), Dorothy Helen Primmer (grades 9-10), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8)
1945-1946
Leah Jacqueline Cory (grades 3-5), Winnifred Norah Hulbert (grades 1-2), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 9-11), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8)
1946-1947
Edythe Georgina Bray (grades 3-5), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 9-11), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8), Annie Edith Stocker (grades 1-2)
1947-1948
Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 9-11), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8), Annie Edith Stocker (grades 1-2), Phyllis Vera White (grades 3-5)
1948-1949
Ina Doreen Hazelwood (grades 1-3), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 9-11), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8), Phyllis Vera White (grades 4-5)
1949-1950
Ina Doreen Hazelwood (grades 1-2), Daisy Hazel McIntyre (grades 3-5), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 9-11), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8)
1950-1951
Ina Doreen Hazelwood (grades 1-2), Daisy Hazel McIntyre (grades 3-5), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 9-11), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8)
1951-1952
Joan Audrey Bowey (grades 1-2), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 9-11), Alma Bethel Sedywick (grades 6-8), Audrey Kathleen Stevenson (grades 3-5)
1952-1953
Joan Audrey Bowey (grades 1-2), Mary Doreen Hayward (grades 6-8), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 9-11), Audrey Kathleen Stevenson (grades 3-5)
1953-1954
Joan Audrey Bowey (grades 1-2), Ruth Isabel Hedley (grades 6-8), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 9-11), Audrey Kathleen Stevenson (grades 3-5)
1954-1955
Joan Audrey Bowey (grades 1-2), Audrey Kathleen Stevenson Coulson (grades 3-5), Barbara Criddle (grades 9-10), Ruth Isabel Hedley (grades 6-8), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 11-12)
1955-1956
Joyce Evelyn Alexander (grades 1-2), Barbara Criddle (grades 9-10), Ruth Isabel Hedley (grades 7-8), Audrey Kathleen Stevenson Coulson (grades 3-4), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 11-12), Glennis Wayne Scott (grades 5-6)
1956-1957
Joyce Evelyn Alexander (grades 1-2), Barbara Criddle (grades 9-10), Ruth Isabel Hedley (grades 7-8), Margaret Christina Kinnaird (grades 3-4), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 11-12), Glennis Wayne Scott (grades 5-6)
1957-1958
Joyce Evelyn Alexander (grades 1-2), Alma Elaine Carnochan (grades 9-10), Carman R. Gray (grades 5-6), Ruth Isabel Hedley (grades 7-8), Margaret Christina Kinnaird (grades 3-4), Donald Roderick “Don” McLennan (grades 11-12)
1958-1959
Joyce Evelyn Alexander (grades 1-2), Anne Haggerty (grades 5-6), Ruth Isabel Hedley (grades 7-8), Margaret Christina Kinnaird (grades 3-4), Rene Allen Ollivier (grades 11-12), Joyce Anges Wilkinson (grades 9-10)
1959-1960
Denis M. Babcock (grades 10-11, 1960), Anne Haggerty (grades 5-6), Gladys Dorothy Davies (grades 10-11, 1959), Ruth Isabel Hedley (grades 7-8), Margaret Christina Kinnaird (grades 3-4), Alfrild V. Niven (grade 9, 1959), Rene Allen Ollivier (grade 12), June L. Reid (grade 9, 1960), Arlene Wilson (grades 1-2)
The two-storey, four-classroom Oak River School, constructed between 1906 and 1907 and destroyed by fire in October 1908 (1907)
Source: Education Department Report, 1907, Manitoba Legislative Library.
The second Oak River School built in 1909 to replace one that was burned the previous year (1909)
Source: Education Department Report, 1909, Manitoba Legislative Library.
The second Oak River School (1920s) by W. C. Hartley
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 6.
The third Oak River School, built in 1929 (circa 1979)
Source: Sharon SimmsSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.13835, W100.43026
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Oak River School No. 253 (RM of Oakview)
“Tenders for heating,” Manitoba Free Press, 25 September 1906, page 2.
“Oak River School burned to ground,” Hamiota Echo, 22 October 1908, page 1.
“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 25 March 1909, page 2.
Manitoba School Records Collection (GR2063), Oak River School No. 253 Daily Registers, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports, Schedule: E 0757, Archives of Manitoba.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Rivers West topographic map, 62K/1 West, Edition 1, Series A743 [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.
We thank Therese Shamray, Donald Simms, and Sharon Simms for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 28 August 2021
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