Memorable Manitobans: Firmin Wyndels (c1888-1929)

Building contractor.

Born at Neuville en Ferrain, France around 1888, of Belgian parents, he came to Winnipeg in 1909 where he was President and General Manager of the Wyndels Construction Company which designed and built a number of homes, schools, and churches in Manitoba. On 8 January 1917, he married Marie Madeleine Bossuyt (1897-1964) at Fort Garry and they had six children: Zoe Wyndels (1917-1994), Constant Firmin Albert Wyndels (1918-1995), Raymonde Wyndels (1920-2001, wife of James H. Loudfoot), Jeanne Elizabeth Wyndels (1920-2014, wife of James Grant Dykes), Dennis Victor Wyndels (1928-2012), Firmin Wyndels (1929-1992). He died at the St. Boniface Hospital on 14 September 1929 and was buried in the St. Boniface Cathedral Cemetery.

Some of his construction works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Value	Status
Fort Garry Catholic Church	Monaghan Avenue, Fort Garry	1914	Unknown	Demolished (?)
Vershae Vershaere House	Dubuc Street, St. Boniface	1916	$1,000
Belgian Sacred Heart Church	501 Plinguet Street, St. Boniface	1917	$9,000	Demolished (1994)
Scheppers Agricultural College / Sacred Heart College	Swan Lake, Municipality of Lorne	1920	$80,000	Demolished (1938)
Farmers Packing Company Building	Dupuy Avenue at Marion Street, St. Boniface	1921	$24,000	Demolished (?)
Western Wheel & Foundries Building	Messier Street, St. Boniface	1921	$6,200
Carter Store Building	St. Joseph & Provencher, St. Boniface	1921	$5,000
Constant House	Kitson Street, St. Boniface	1921	$2,500
Dr. Collins House	149 Dollard Boulevard, St. Boniface	1922	$10,000
Imperial Oil Garage	Provencher & Tache, St. Boniface	1922	$5,000
McRuer Drug Store	Provencher Boulevard, St. Boniface	1922	$10,000
Imperial Oil Buildings	Selkirk	1922	Unknown
House (brick & stucco)	422 Rue Valade, St. Boniface	1922	$10,000
Dominion Wheel & Foundries Building	Messier Street, St. Boniface	1923	$7,000
House (brick & stucco)	137 Monck Avenue, Norwood	1924	$6,000
House (brick & stucco)	172 Ferndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$6,000
House (brick & stucco)	178 Ferndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$5,900
House (brick & stucco)	184 Ferndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$5,300
House (brick & stucco)	188 Ferndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$5,300
House (brick & stucco)	190 Ferndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$4,800
House (brick & stucco)	194 Ferndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$5,600
House (brick & stucco)	206 Ferndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$5,500
House (brick & stucco)	210 Ferndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$5,000
House (brick & stucco)	214 Ferndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$6,200
House (brick & stucco)	198 Lawndale Avenue, Norwood	1925	$4,000
Beilleul Store	523 Marion Street, St. Boniface	1926	$5,000
Pierson Store	Tache Avenue, St. Boniface	1926	$3,500
Dominion Wheel & Foundries Building	Messier Street, St. Boniface	1926	$20,000
House (stucco)	562 Morenie Street, St. Boniface	1927	$4,000
Farmers Packing Company Building	Dupuy Avenue at Marion Street, St. Boniface	1927	$50,000
Modern Dairy Cold Storage Building	209 La Verendrye Street, St. Boniface	1927	$4,000
Holy Cross School	300 Dubuc Street, St. Boniface	1928	$28,000
House (brick & stucco)	514 Ritchot Street, St. Boniface	1928	$5,000
Modern Dairy Building	738 St. Joseph Street, St. Boniface	1929	$50,000

See also:

Firmin Wyndels: The Belgian Builder by James Wyndels, University of Ottawa, 2016.

Sources:

Marriage and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1921 Canada census, Ancestry.

“Modern Dairy’s new home will be model plant,” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 June 1929, page 6.

“Deaths and funerals,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 September 1929, page 12.

Obituary, Manitoba Free Press, 17 September 1929, page 22.

Obituary, La Liberte, 18 September 1929, page 8.

“Jeanne Elizabeth Wyndels marries Lieut. J. G. Dykes,” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 March 1944, page 8.

The Belgians in Manitoba by Keith Wilson and James B. Wyndels, Winnipeg: Peguis Publishers, 1976.

Death registration [Firmin Wyndels], British Columbia Vital Statistics.

Obituary [Constant Firmin Albert Wyndels], Winnipeg Free Press, 27 February 1995, page 14.

Obituary [James Herbert Loudfoot], Winnipeg Free Press, 29 January 2004, page 23.

Joseph Van Belleghem: A Biography by James B. Wyndels, Ottawa: J. Merriam Print, 2004, page 7.

Obituary [Dennis Victor Wyndels], Winnipeg Free Press, 4 October 2012.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and James Wyndels.

Page revised: 19 March 2022

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