Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Willowdale School District was established formally in 1884, and a one-room schoolhouse operated at SW15-2-10W in Purves, in what is now the Municipality of Louise. The school closed in 1966 and its catchment area became part of the Snowflake Consolidated School District No. 1111. A commemorative monument is situated at its former site.
Period
Principal
1936-1937
Edith Arvilla May Elson Lightly (1914-2006)
1937-1940
Olive Lillian McFadden
1940-1941
Norine Isla Smith Kellet (1918-2004)
Among the early teachers of Willowdale School were S. A. Preston (Spring-Fall 1885), Maggie A. Campbell (Spring-Fall 1886), E. E. Morrison (Spring-Fall 1887), C. McKibbon (Spring-Fall 1888), T? M. Higgins (Spring-Fall 1889), W. J. Arnott (Spring 1890 - Fall 1891), James A. Foster (Spring-Fall 1892), J. L. Greenway (Spring-Fall 1893, Spring - pt Fall 1895), G. A. Bremner? (Spring - pt Fall 1894), W. R. Starling? (pt Fall 1894), Alice Vrooman? (pt Fall 1895), M. Greenway (Spring-Fall 1896), Henry Edward Chaplin (Spring-Fall 1897), Sadie M. Ferguson (Spring 1898 - Fall 1899, pt Spring 1900), George Thomas Armstrong (pt Spring 1900), did not operate? (Fall 1900), Frank W. Ruttan (Spring 1901), Robert J. McClelland (Fall 1901), records not available (Spring 1902 - Fall 1904), Bessie Perfect (Spring-Fall 1905), Maud E. McLaren (Spring-Fall 1906, February-December 1908), Florence L. Potter (Spring-Fall 1907, January 1908), Ida Thomson (January-June 1909), Percy J. Driscon [Dixon?] (July-December 1909), Theresa T. Switzer (January-August 1910), Nellie A. Couner? (September-October 1910), Cora M. Rennie (November 1910 - December 1911), Alvin Campbell (January-February 1912), F. Edna Goulden (March-December 1912), Elsie B. Fisher (January-December 1913), Florence A. Maddocks (January-October 1914), Helen P. Robertson (November-December 1914, August 1915 - December 1916), Olive R. Davis (January-June 1915), Harriett W. Manning (January-December 1917), K. Oddson (January-June 1918), Miss F. MacCharles (September 1918), Emily Esther Phipps (October-November? 1918), Leila Stephenson (December 1918 - March 1919), Marie Rankin (April-December 1919), Clarence Morrow (January 1920 - March 1921), Percival Beresford Bennett (April-June 1921), Thomas H. Greenway (August-September 1921), Edith O. Windsor (October-November 1921), May R. Privat (November 1921 - June 1922), Susan A. Hammond (August-December 1922), Emma C. Hammond (January-June 1923), Irene Mitchell (August 1923 - June 1924), Mabel K. McKinnon (August 1924 - June 1929), Jessie Montgomery (August 1929 - December 1931), Electra Catherine graham (January-June 1932), and Cora Margaret Smith (August 1932 - June 1935).
Period
Teachers
1935-1936
Alexander McNeill (grades 1-9)
1936-1937
Edith Arvilla May Elson (grades 5-10), Agnes Jean Simpson (grades 1-4)
1937-1938
Olive Lillian McFadden (grades 5-10), Agnes Jean Simpson (grades 1-4)
1938-1939
Olive Lillian McFadden (grades 7-11), Agnes Jean Simpson (grades 1-6)
1939-1940
Olive Lillian McFadden (grades 7-11), Agnes Jean Simpson (grades 1-6)
1940-1941
Irene May Sellers (grades 1-6), Norine Isla Smith (grades 7-11)
1941-1942
Irene May Sellers (grades 1-8)
Among the later single-classroom teachers at Willowdale School were Anna May Pollock (Fall 1942 - Spring 1944), Margaret Isobel Chambers Grain (Fall 1944 - Fall 1945), Hilda Marie McLean (Spring 1946), Anne Melba Lindsay (August 1946 - April 1947), Ramona Cooper (substitute, Fall 1946 - Spring 1947), Lyra Leona McQuarrie (May-June 1947), Thomas Tesarski (Fall 1947 - Spring 1950), Kenneth Otto Mutcher (Fall 1950 - Spring 1951), Helen Giesbrecht (Fall 1951 - Spring 1952), Lydia Loutchan (Fall 1952 - Spring 1953), ? (Fall 1953 - Spring 1962), Jacob “Jack” Isaak (?-?), and Morris John Stefaniuk (Fall 1962 - Spring 1963).
Willowdale School (no date) by W. J. Parr
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 20.
Willowdale School (1964)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey, Purves.
Willowdale School commemorative monument (May 2013)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.12559, W98.72378
denoted by symbol on the map above
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.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Willowdale School District No. 309 - Daily Registers, GR3146, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Willowdale School District No. 309 - Annual Reports, GR3146, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Willowdale School District No. 309 - Minute Books, GR3146, Archives of Manitoba.
Board of Education registers (A 0050), GR7643, Archives of Manitoba.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
Board of Education meeting minutes and office files (A 0052), GR1622, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer, Ed Grassick, and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 2 January 2024
Historic Sites of Manitoba
This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. The information is offered for historical interest only.
Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | OtherInclusion in this collection does not confer special status or protection. Official heritage designation may only come from municipal, provincial, or federal governments. Some sites are on private property and permission to visit must be secured from the owner.
Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the MHS Webmaster at webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.Help us keep history alive!
