Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Vital School No. 1024 / St. Vital School No. 1 / Grandin School No. 1024 (1750 Pembina Highway, Winnipeg)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Second World War | Sources

A Roman Catholic mission and school operated on the west bank of the Red River near this site until 1887. A dozen years later, the Grey Nuns (Sisters of Charity) opened a school on this site. Known as St. Vital School No. 1024 when the district was formally established in July 1899 - in what would later be known as the Fort Garry area of Winnipeg - it was partitioned from the School District of St. Boniface West and the School District of St. Vital East.

Enrollment growth required a larger school and, following a local ratepayer vote of 28 in favour to 7 against, a $20,000 loan was used to finance a new building. Upon completion in 1912, the two-storey limestone and brick structure measured 84 feet wide and 30 feet deep with four classrooms, two on each floor. The first schoolhouse was, by late 1913, slated to be remodoled and serve as a residence for Father Caron. The parochial school was transferred from the Grey Nuns to the Department of Education in 1917 and became a public school.

A second school, known as St. Vital School No. 2, was built within the district near Fort Whyte. In 1922, a further $9,000 in debentures were issued for sewer, water, and general improvements to the school facilities. When the St. Vital School No. 2 was replaced and the district subdivided in 1929, that catchment area separated to become the Fort Whyte School and the No. 1 designation for this site was discontinued.

In October 1941, the St. Vital School district and this school were renamed to Grandin School in commemoration of cleric Vital Justin Grandin. Further classroom capacity was added in August 1946 with a one-storey frame annex 60 feet wide and 30 feet deep, containing two more classrooms, built on the north side. The complex sat on four and one-quarter acres of land on the east side of Pembina Highway.

In October 1952, the school closed and its students were transferred to a newly-built replacement, Pembina Crest School. The original building was sold and used for a time by a manufacturing company, then was demolished sometime between 1971 and 1978.

Principals

Period	Principal
1900-1915	Margaret Owens (1866-1931)
1915-1917	May Laurentia Philomene Guichon (1887-1972)
1917-1919	Marie Adrienne C. “Nellie” Marion (1891-1959)
1919	Sydney E. Clark (1880-1963)
1919	Clara Paradis
1919-1920	I. Lavack
1920	Clair Barthe
1920	Antoine Alphonse “Anthony” Allegeart (1890-1969)
1920-1921	J. A. M. Cyr
1921-1924	James Henry Kiteley (1871-1955)
1924-1928	Frederick Webster Simms (1902-1959)
1928-1930	Charles Foulsham Laine (1888-1945)
1930-1945	William Alexander Ellison (c1906-1952)
1945	C. Worsley?
1946	Muriel Amelia Robertson Redpath (1906-1984)
1946-1948	Norman Oliver Finnigan (1908-1988)
1948-1951	Leopold Raymond Labossiere (c1914-1969)
1951-1952	John Alexius Peterson (c1885-1959)
After 1952	See Pembina Crest School

Vice-Principals

Period	Vice-Principal
1946-1947	Muriel Amelia Robertson Redpath (1906-1984)

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1898	Sister Margaret Owens (fall term)
1899	Sister M. Girard (fall term), Sister Margaret Owens (spring term)
1900	Marie Louise Allay (spring term), Noemi Chevrefils (fall term), Sister Margaret Owens
1901	Noemi Chevrefils, Sister Margaret Owens
1902	Sister Margaret Owens, ?
1903	Sister Margaret Owens, ?
1904	Sister Margaret Owens, ?
1905	Sister Anna Bonin (fall term), Sister Margaret Owens, Louise Sandow? (spring term)
1906	Sister Anna Bonin (grades 1-3), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 3-7)
1907	Sister Anna Bonin (grades 1-3), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 4-7)
1908	Sister Anna Bonin (grades 1-3, January-June), Sister May Guichon (grades 1-3, September-December), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 4-7)
1909	Sister May Guichon (grades 1-3), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 4-7)
1910	Sister May Guichon (grades 1-3), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 4-7)
1911	Sister May Guichon (grades 1-3, January-June), Sister Josephine Maurice (grades 1-3, August-December), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 4-7)
1912	Sister M. B. Latreille (grades 1-3, August-December), Sister Josephine Maurice (grades 1-3, January-June), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 4-7)
1913	Spring Term only: Sister M. B. Latreille (grades 1-3, January-June), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 4-7, January-June)
1913-1914	Sister Claire de Jesus (grades 1-3, August-December), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 4-7), Sister M. L. Prud’homme (grades 1-3, January-June)
1914-1915	Gladys Jickering (grades ?), Sister Margaret Owens (grades 4-7), Sister M. L. Prud’homme (grades 1-3)
1915-1916	Sister May Guichon (grades 3-6), Sister M. B. Latreille (junior grades), Rita M. Van Blari? (junior grades)
1916-1917	Elsie E. Cameron (grades 1-5?, January-June), Sister May Guichon (grades 4-7), Sister M. B. Latreille (grades 1-3), William Neilson (grades ?, August-December)
1917-1918	Noelia Desautels (grades 3-4), Therese Dumouchel (grades 1-2, c. April), Adrienne C. “Nellie” Marion (grades 5-8), Alice Vermette (grades 1-2, September-?)
1918-1919	Sydney E. Clark (grades 4-7, May-June), Noelia Desautels (grades 2-3), Therese Dumouchel (grade 1), Adrienne C. “Nellie” Marion (grades 4-7, September-April)
1919-1920	Antoine Alphonse Allegeart (grades 4-6, April-June), Clair Barthe (grades 4-6, February-March), I. F? Lavack (grades 4-6, November-January), Clara Paradis (grades 4-6, September-October), Alice Vermette (grade 1), M. L. Vermette (grades 2-3)
1920-1921	J. A. M. Cyr (grades 5-8), Johanna Dynea? [Dyma?] (grades 1-4, September-February; grades 1-2, March-June), L. P. A. Gendreau (grades 3-5, March-June), Alice Vermette (grade 1)
1921-1922	Miss C. Clara Campeau (grades 3-4), Vera Foster (grade 1), James Henry Kiteley (grades 5-8), Kathleen Rose Klinck (grades 1-2)
1922-1923	Miss C. Clara Campeau (grades 3-4), Vera Foster (grade 1), James Henry Kiteley (grades 6-9), Antonia de Margerie (grades 1-2)
1923-1924	Miss C. Clara Campeau (grades 3-4), Vera Foster (grade 1), James Henry Kiteley (grades 4-7), Antonia de Margerie (grades 2-3)
1924-1925	Eva J. Bell (grade 1), Marguerite M. Burk (grades 1-2, September-December; grades 2-3, January-June), Anna Marion (grades 3-4), Frederick Webster Simms (grades 5-8)
1925-1926	Eva J. Bell (grades 1-2), Therese Dumouchel (grades 1-2), Julia McEachran (grades 4-5), Mildred Tinelda McEachran (grades 2-3), Frederick Webster Simms (grades 5-8)
1926-1927	Marion H. Hannah (grade 1, October-June), R. G. Hipwell (grade 1, September), Blanche McEachran (grades 2-3, October-June), Julia McEachran grades 4-5, September-December), Mildred Tinelda McEachran (grades 2-3, September; grades 4-5, January-June), Frederick Webster Simms (grades 5-8)
1927-1928	Marion H. Hannah (grade 1, September-December), Blanche McEachran (grades 2-3), Mildred Tinelda McEachran (grades 4-5), Ida C. Robertson (grade 1, January-June), Frederick Webster Simms (grades 5-8)
1928-1929	Charles Foulsham Laine (grades 6-8), Blanche McEachran (grades 2-3), Mildred Tinelda McEachran (grades 4-5), Margaret de Yong (grade 1)
1929-1930	Charles Foulsham Laine (grades 6-8), Blanche McEachran (grades 2-3), Mildred Tinelda McEachran (grades 4-5), Margaret de Yong (grade 1)
1930-1931	William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-8), Marion Jean Frame (grade 4), Blanche McEachran (grade 1), Mildred Tinelda McEachran (grades 5-6), Margaret de Yong (grade 2-3)
1931-1932	Stella Sarah Bryson (grade 4), William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-8), Blanche McEachran (grade 1), Mildred Tinelda McEachran (grades 5-6), Margaret de Yong (grade 2-3)
1932-1933	Stella Sarah Bryson (grades 4-5), William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-8), Marion Jean Frame (grades 5-6), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grades 1-2), Margaret de Yong (grade 2-3)
1933-1934	Stella Sarah Bryson (grades 4-5), William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-8), Marion Jean Frame (grades 5-6), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grades 1-2), Florence Mae Shirtliffe (grades 9-11), Margaret de Yong (grade 2-3)
1934-1935	Stella Sarah Bryson (grades 4-5), William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-8), Marion Jean Frame (grades 5-6), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grades 1-2), Florence Mae Shirtliffe (grades 9-11), Margaret de Yong (grade 2-3)
1935-1936	Stella Sarah Bryson (grades 4-5), William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-8), Marion Jean Frame (grade 6), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grades 1-2), Florence Mae Shirtliffe (grades 9-11), Margaret de Yong (grade 2-3)
1936-1937	Stella Sarah Bryson (grades 3-4), William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-8), Marion Jean Frame (grades 5-6), Marion Ruth Hancock (grades 2-3), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grade 1), Florence Mae Shirtliffe (grades 9-11)
1937-1938	Stella Sarah Bryson (grades 3-4), William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-8), Marion Jean Frame (grades 5-6), Marion Ruth Hancock (grade 2), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grade 1), Florence Mae Shirtliffe (grades 9-11)
1938-1939	Stella Sarah Bryson (grades 4-5), William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-9), Marion Jean Frame (grades 5-6), Marion Ruth Hancock (grade 3), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grades 1-2), Florence Mae Shirtliffe (grades 10-11)
1939-1940	Stella Sarah Bryson (grades 4-5), William Alexander Ellison (grades 7-9), Marion Jean Frame (grades 5-6), Marion Ruth Hancock (grade 3), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grades 1-2), Florence Mae Shirtliffe (grades 10-11)
1940-1941	Stella Sarah Bryson (grades 6-7), William Alexander Ellison (grades 8-9), Marion Jean Frame (grades 4-5), Marion Ruth Hancock (grades 3-4), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grades 1-2), Florence Mae Shirtliffe (grades 10-11)
1941-1942	Audrey Evelyn Bowley (grades 2-3), William Alexander Ellison (grades 8-9), Joyce Gibbons (grades 10-11), Leopold Raymond Labossiere (grades 6-7), Elizabeth Florence “Betty” O’Neill (grades 1-2)
1942-1943	Florence Geraldine Adamson (grades 2-3), Germaine Baccaert (grades 1-2, wife of Paul Peter Baccaert), William Alexander Ellison (grades 8-9), Marion Jean Frame (grades 4-5), Joyce Gibbons (grades 10-11), Marcelle Antoinette Lemaire (grade 3, January-June), Josephine O’Neill (grades 1-2, September-December)
1943-1944	Patricia Marguerite Deacon (grade 2), Jean Hazel Donovan (grades 9-10, March & June), William Alexander Ellison (grades 6 & 11), Marion Jean Frame (grades 4-5), Margaret A. Gorowski (grades 7-8), M. G. High (grades 9-10, January-February), Isabel Florence Laird (grades 4-5), Marcelle Antoinette Lemaire (grade 3), Marguerite E. Masson (grade 1), Bessie K. McLean (grades 9-10, September-December)
1944-1945	Patricia Marguerite Deacon (grades 5-6), William Alexander Ellison (grade 11), Patricia Roberta Faulkner (grades 7-8), Margaret A. Gorowski (grades 9-10), Christina Fraser (grade 3, January-June), Isabel Florence Laird (grade 4), Eva Hazel Lamarche (grade 2, September-December), Sylvia Landry (grade 2, January-June), Marcelle Antoinette Lemaire (grade 3), Marguerite E. Masson (grade 1), Marie P. McDonald (grade 3, September-December)
1945-1946	Patricia Marguerite Deacon (grades 5-6, September-December), Irene Nora Dick (grades 2-3, February-June), William Alexander Ellison (grade 11, September-October), Patricia Roberta Faulkner (grades 7-8, September-December), Christina Fraser (grades 2-3, January), Margaret A. Gorowski (grades 9-10, September-December), William Hladun (grades 7-8, January-June), Borden Brownlee Johnston (grades 9-10, March-June), Sylvia Landry (grade 1), Marguerite E. Masson (grades 2-3, September-December), Muriel Amelia Redpath (grade 11, January-June), Margaret E. Snell (grades 9-10, January-March), Marion Stewart (grades 4-5, September-December), Josephine Jean Weber (grades 4-5, January-June), Winnifred Muriel Wilson (grades 5-6, January-June), C. Worsley? (grade 11 substitute, November-December)
1946-1947	Irene Nora Dick (grade 2), Ina Lavack Dufresne (grades 7-8), Norman Oliver Finnigan (grade 11), Christina Fraser (grades 3-4, September-December), Sylvia Landry (grade 1), Donald Grant Lemon (grades 3-4, January-June), Henriette Yvonne Lemoine (grades 4-5), Muriel Amelia Redpath (grades 9-10), Winnifred Muriel Wilson (grades 5-6)
1947-1948	Irene Nora Dick (grade 2), Ina Lavack Dufresne (grades 7-8), Norman Oliver Finnigan (grade 11), Eva Lambert (grades 4-5), Sylvia Landry (grade 1), Donald Grant Lemon (grade 3), Muriel Amelia Redpath (grades 9-10), Winnifred Muriel Wilson (grades 5-6)
1948-1949	Irene Nora Dick (grade 2, September-December), Leopold Raymond Labossiere (grade 11), Cecil Drummond Muldrew (grades 7-8), Alice Flore Olivier (grades 4-5), Muriel Amelia Redpath (grades 9-10), Aleda Tupper (grade 2, January-June), Winnifred Muriel Wilson (grades 5-6), Jean Zapski (grade 1)
1949-1950	Edmee Lorraine DeCaire (grade 3), Leopold Raymond Labossiere (grade 11), Mollie Porter (grade 1), Muriel Amelia Redpath (grades 9-10), Aleda Tupper (grade 2), Henry Unruh (grades 7-8), Winnifred Muriel Wilson (grades 5-6)
1950-1951	Edmee Lorraine DeCaire (grades 3-4), Leopold Raymond Labossiere (grades 10-11), Mollie Porter (grade 1), Muriel Amelia Redpath (grade 9), Alice Flore Reid (grades 4-5), Aleda Tupper (grade 2), Henry Unruh (grades 7-8), Winnifred Muriel Wilson (grade 6)
1951-1952	Marie Elisa Houde (grades 9-10), Nicholas “Nick” Kosowan (grades 7-8), John Alexius Peterson (grade 11), Mollie Porter (grade 2), Alice Flore Reid (grade 4), Helen Rempel (grade 1), Edmee Silvester (grade 3), Winnifred Muriel Wilson (grades 5-6)
After 1952	See Pembina Crest School

Photos & Coordinates

The St. Vital School later renamed Grandin School (circa 1922) Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 9 September 1922, page 5. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.82655, W97.15159 denoted by symbol on the map above

St. Vital School / Grandin School Students Killed During the Second World War

Name	Service	Rank	Birth Date	Death Date
Aime Beauchamp	1 Corps Field Park Company, Royal Canadian Engineers	Sapper	6 October 1921	23 February 1943
Dennis Brien McGrath	115 (Royal Air Force) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force	Warrant Officer	17 March 1917	29 April 1942
James Donald McGrath	HMCS Alberni, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve	Leading Seamen	15 January 1924	21 August 1944
Robert Kenneth McGrath	142 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force	Flight Sergeant	8 August 1918	22 July 1942
Frederick William Nixon	15 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force	Flight Sergeant	19 January 1916	12 August 1942
Donald Stephen	HMCS Alberni, Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve	Leading Telegraphist	27 November 1916	21 August 1944
Keith Leonard Toland	Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps	Corporal	4 February 1920	5 December 1941
Metro Zytaruk	Cape Breton Highlanders, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps	Private	17 March 1923	29 September 1944

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Pembina Crest School / Winnipeg Technical College / Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology (1551 Pembina Hwy, Winnipeg)

Sources:

“The Grey Nuns’ development work,” Manitoba Free Press, 10 June 1905, page 27.

“City and general [St. Vital School by-law],” Manitoba Free Press, 2 March 1912, page 48.

“St. Vital School District No. 1024,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 May 1912, page 2.

“Redemptorists to locate at St. Vital,” Manitoba Free Press, 9 August 1913, page 10.

“The Rural Municipality of Fort Garry - Saint Vital School District No. 1024,” Manitoba Free Press, 21 January 1922, page 2.

“News of the suburbs [Fort Garry],” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 1 September 1934, page 23.

“News of the suburbs [Fort Garry],” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 29 August 1936, page 34.

“News of the suburbs [Fort Garry],” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 August 1936, page 34.

“News of the suburbs,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 August 1937, page 30.

“Fort Garry notes,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 September 1939, page 4.

“Valuable Fort Garry property for sale,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 February 1953, page 30.

“School sold”, Winnipeg Free Press, 8 July 1953, page 3.

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.

Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.

Corporate Security registered documents (ATG 0089), #18 School District of St. Vital, GR12576, Archives of Manitoba.

Corporate Security registered documents (ATG 0089), #25 School District of St. Vital, GR12576, Archives of Manitoba.

Corporate Security registered documents (ATG 0089), #14 School District of St. Vital, GR12576, Archives of Manitoba.

Corporate Security registered documents (ATG 0089), #51 School District of St. Vital, GR12576, Archives of Manitoba.

Orders-In-Council (EC 0003B), Order-in-Council No. 32300, GR1530, Archives of Manitoba.

Orders-In-Council (EC 0003B), Order-in-Council No. 1038/37, GR0589, Archives of Manitoba.

School division and school district formation files (E 0027), St. Vital School District No. 1024, GR1688, Archives of Manitoba.

Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1024 - Grandin, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.

Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1024 - Grandin - Permanent, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.

Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 1024 - Grandin Special Work File - Permanent, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

Municipal borrowing files (MA 0039), Grandin School District No. 1024, GR1799, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, St. Vital School District #1024 - Daily Registers, GR10356, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Grandin School District #1024 - Daily Registers, GR10356, Archives of Manitoba.

Grandin School Annual, 1946-47. Legislative Library of Manitoba, RBC F 5649.W55 Gra.

Fort Garry Remembered III by Fort Garry Historical Society, May 2012.

Soldiers of the First World War - Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Veterans Affairs Canada.

Service Files of the Second World War - War Dead, Library and Archives Canada.

Find War Dead & Cemeteries, Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

We thank Fred Dallyn, Chris Kotecki, Monica Ball, and Bill Fraser for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer, Gordon Goldsborough, and Darryl Toews.

Page revised: 31 October 2021

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