Memorable Manitobans: Irene Helen Waluk Gayowsky (1904-2007)

Educator, community activist.

Born in Ukraine in 1904, she came to Canada with her family in 1910. She attended teacher training and began working at the age of 17, teaching at King George School (1922-1923), Tolstoi School (1923-1925, Principal 1924-1925), Mohyla School (1925-1926), and Flower School (1926).

On 17 May 1927, she married Prokop Peter Gayowsky (1892-1974) at Brandon and continued teaching at Morse School (1929) and Olha School (1931-1932), after which she took a break to raise their two children: Cornelia Gayowsky (wife of John Kuchmy) and Nestor Eugene Gayowsky. The family later moved to Winnipeg and she returned to teaching in 1949, at Isbister School (1959-1964) and John M. King School (1964-1969) before retiring in 1969. She also taught Ukrainian in evening school classes and was active in the Canadian-Ukrainian community as President of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee (Winnipeg Branch, two years) and Winnipeg Central Senior’s Centre (1974), and as a member of the Institute Prosvita and Ukrainian National Home Association of Winnipeg.

She died at Ottawa, Ontario in March 2007 and her body was returned to Manitoba for burial in the All Saints Cemetery.

Sources:

Marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Marriage [Gayowsky - Madsen], Winnipeg Free Press, 4 September 1962, page 19.

Obituary [Prokop Peter Gayowsky], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 November 1974, page 48.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 31 March 2007, page 47.

All Saints Cemetery burial transcriptions, FindAGrave.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 22 December 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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