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Isabella Margaret Dryden
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Educator.
Born on 14 October 1917, daughter of James Walter Dryden (1873-1931) and Mary McGregor (1891-1981), she was raised on a farm near Lenore. She attended the Central Normal School and had her first teaching job at Erroll School (1937-1941). She then taught at Bardal School (1941-1942) before moving to Windsor, Ontario where she worked in the office of a manufacturing firm and took business courses in her spare time. Returning to Manitoba, she taught at Ross School (1947-1948) and the elementary school at Virden (1948-1949) before she began teaching business classes at Virden Collegiate.
In 1967, she moved to Winnipeg to become the supervisor of business education for the Manitoba Department of Education and also taught at Robertson Community College. She retired in 1983 but, as of 2018, continued to teaching computer usage classes at Creative Retirement Manitoba at the age of 100. She volunteered to teaching keyboarding at Salisbury School and Lavallee School.
In recognition of her community service, she was named a YWCA Woman of Distinction (2000) and she received a Lieutenant Governor’s “Make A Difference Award” (2012) and Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers (2018).
She died unmarried at Winnipeg on 14 June 2024 and was buried in the Breadalbane Cemetery.
Birth registration [Isabella Margaret Dryden], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1921 Canada census, Ancestry.
Marriage and death registrations [James Walter Dryden], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Walter McGregor Dryden], Selkirk Journal, 22 July 2005, page 19.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
“A wealth of knowledge” by Bill Redekop, Winnipeg Free Press, 20 February 2017, page A4.
“Kudos for educator who’s still teaching at 100,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 2018.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 8 June 2024.
Obituary, Gilbart Funeral Home.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 6 December 2024
