Historic Sites of Manitoba: Gruenfeld School No. 63 (RM of Hanover)

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

The Gruenfeld School District was organized formally in November 1878 by Mennonite pioneers from Russia. A school building was erected on the northeast quarter of 32-6-5 east of the Principal Meridian in what would later become the Rural Municipality of Hanover. Around 1919, the building was moved to NE29-6-5E and operated there for about ten years when a new one-room building replaced it. The old school was converted into a teacherage. When a new teacherage was built in 1948, the old one was moved to a location about 1.5 miles northeast of the Tourond post office and renovated into a private residence.

In 1941, a second classroom was built to alleviate overcrowding in the school. A third one was added in 1954 and a fourth in 1957. Five years later, the district merged with Hochstadt School No. 66 to form Cloverfield Consolidated School No. 66, with classes continuing at the two original locations. In 1968, Cloverfield became part of the Hanover School Division. In 1972, with the construction of a new primary school in the village of Kleefeld nearby, Gruenfeld School closed. Its building was sold in June 1973 and renovated into a private residence.

Principals

Period	Principal
1940-1942	Gustav Reimer
1942-1945	Andrew Toews
1945-1964	Richard Lehmann Reimer (1911-1999)
1964-1966	Richard Loeppky
1966-1968	Werner Henry “Vern” Hildebrand
1968-1972	?

Teachers

Period	Teachers
1940-1941	Regina Helen Doerksen (grades 1-4), Gustav Reimer (grades 5-8)
1941-1942	Regina Helen Doerksen (grades 1-4), Gustav Reimer (grades 5-8)
1942-1943	Regina Helen Doerksen (grades 1-4), Andrew Toews (grades 5-9)
1943-1944	Lottie Giesbrecht (grades 1-4), Andrew Toews (grades 5-9)
1944-1945	Marie Reimer (grades 1-4, 1944), Andrew Toews (grades 5-10), Cornelius L. Toews (grades 1-4)
1945-1946	Irene M. Loewen (grades 1-4), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 5-9)
1946-1947	Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 5-10), Sally Elizabeth Schroeder (grades 1-4)
1947-1948	Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 5-10), Sally Elizabeth Schroeder (grades 1-4)
1948-1949	Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 5-10), Sally Elizabeth Schroeder (grades 1-4)
1949-1950	Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 5-10), Lottie J. Neufeld (grades 1-4)
1950-1951	Helen Ruth Klassen (grades 1-4), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 5-10)
1951-1952	Helen Ruth Klassen (grades 1-4), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 5-10)
1952-1953	Helen Ruth Klassen (grades 1-4), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 5-10)
1953-1954	Helen Ruth Klassen (grades 1-4), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 5-10)
1954-1955	Helen Ruth Klassen (grades 1-3), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 7-10), Eileen Margaret Toews (grades 4-6)
1955-1956	Ruby Victoria Braun (grades 1-3), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 8-11), Rosemarie Unger (grades 4-7)
1956-1957	Ruby Victoria Braun (grades 1-3), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 8-11), Rose-Ann Tiede (grades 4-7)
1957-1958	Louise Reimer (grades 1-2), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 9-11), Rose-Ann Tiede (grades 3-5), Marlene E. Unruh (grades 6-8)
1958-1959	Sylvia Rieger (grades 1-2), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 9-11), Marlene E. Unruh (grades 6-8), Annamarie Wiebe (grades 3-5)
1959-1960	Irma Janzen (grades 1-2), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 9-11), Margarita Agnes ”Rita” Schroeder (grades 6-8), Annamarie Wiebe (grades 3-5)
1960-1961	Ernest Dueck (grades 6-8), Irma Janzen (grades 1-2), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 9-11), Annamarie Wiebe (grades 3-5)
1961-1962	Ruby Victoria Braun (grades 1-2), Ernest Dueck (grades 6-8), Elsie Loewen (grades 3-5), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 9-11)
1962-1963	Alice Braun (grades 1-2), Victor Hildebrand (grades 6-8), Elsie Loewen (grades 3-5), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 9-10)
1963-1964	Alice Braun (grades 1-2), Victor Hildebrand (grades 6-8), Mary Kornelsen (grades 3-5), Richard Lehmann Reimer (grades 9-10)
1964-1965	Alice Braun (grade 1), Mary Loeppky (grades 2-3), Richard Loeppky (grades 7-8), Henry Leonard Wedel (grades 4-6)
1965-1966	Richard Loeppky (grades 7-8), Henry Leonard Wedel (grades 4-6), Elizabeth “Betty” Wiens (grades 2-4), ? (grade 1)
1966-1967	Werner Henry “Vern” Hildebrand (grades 7-8), Grace Elizabeth Loewen (grades 1-2), Lloyd Penner (grades 5-6), ? (grades 3-4)
1967-1968	Werner Henry “Vern” Hildebrand (grades 7-8), Grace Elizabeth Loewen (grades 1-2), Lloyd Penner (grades 5-6), Irma Marie Rempel (grades 3-4)
1968-1969	?
1969-1970	?
1970-1971	?
1971-1972	?
1972-1973	(1972 only) ?

Among the teachers of Gruenfeld School were John D. Goossen (1907), John L. Isaac (1908-1909), Jacob R. Dueck (1910), Jakob I. Dueck (1911), Frank L. Isaac (1915-1917, 1918-1919), Andrew R. Sobering (1917-1918), Aaron Toews (1919-1921, 1925-1926), Albert L. Reimer (1921-1924), Frank Wiebe (1924-1925), Helen Janz (1926-1928), Gustav Knellers Reimer (1928-1930), Gustav Reimer (1930-1934), Gustav G. Reimer (1934-1938), Gustav Reimer (1938-1940), and George Fast (?-?). Between 1968 and 1972, staff included Jake Siemens, Elizabeth Giesbrecht, Phyllis Dueck, Siegfried Graefe, B. Klassen, Mrs. L. Klassen.

Photos & Coordinates

Gruenfeld School (June 1968) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba School Records Collection, GR2656, Hanover School Division Collection #39, Series 2, Gruenfeld School District #63. Gruenfeld School, rear elevation (Dec 1968) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba School Records Collection, GR2656, Hanover School Division Collection #21, Series 1, Gruenfeld School District #63. The former Gruenfeld School building (April 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.51684, W96.87294 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

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.

Schools - Our Heritage: From 46 School Districts to Hanover Unitary School Division (1878-1968) by John K. Schellenberg, The Board of The Hanover School Division No. 15, May 1985, ISBN 0-919673-93-7.

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Gruenfeld School District No. 63 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 21 November 2020

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