Historic Sites of Manitoba: Loon Straits School and Cemetery (Northern Manitoba)

The first school at Loon Straits was built in 1918 by Andrew Monkman and his son William Monkman for their respective children. The building was made of logs plastered with mortar and whitewashed with lime. With a growing number of school-age children in the community, a new school building was constructed in 1946 by local labour. An addition made in 1952 included a second classroom, indoor toilets, and a wood-fueled furnace. When the need for a high school became evident, classes were held initially in a nearby chapel until a dedicated high school building was constructed, the southern-most part of which was partitioned off as an apartment for the teacher. At its peak, Loon Straits School had two elementary classrooms, a high school classroom, and three teachers for a student population of about 135. The school closed in June 1979.

Among the teachers of Loon Straits School were Mr. Jeffrey, Miss Sissons, John Renolfson, Mr. Mourn, Edward Bruce, Mrs. Bruce, Christen Sigurdson (1927), Mr. R. J. Wolfe, Miss Marie Laforme, Gladys Simpson, Miss Prucyk, Marie Ignot, Miss Wilks, Evangeline Peel (1938), Mr. Karlnick (1939), Mr. Barchuk, James Mawson (1940), Dick O’Hara, Tom Belle, Joe Mills, Alex Kohuch, David H. Johnston (1947-1950), John Luening, David Johnston, Victor Gustaw, Shevaun Smith (1950), Henry Froese (1951-1952), Jean McLelland, Mary Ann Thompson (1952-1953), John Robert Hodges Forrester, Bill Essau, Annabella Essau, Miss Helen Dannyluk, Marie Mowat, Mrs. George Williams, Peter Fast (1956-1958), Vera Fast (1956-1958), Adolf Enns, Werner Enns, Peter Sawatzky, Anne Voth, Lena Sawatzky, Wesley Penner, Jake Wiebe, Monique Cote (1962), Hillary Thomas (1963), Ron Marchuk (1962), Darlene Paddock (1963), Jakes Harmes, Dick Pauls (1964), Mrs. Paul Minkus, Mr. Dwarika, Angie Thompson (1965), Jerry Monkman, Ruth E. Christie (1966), Fern Steiner, Mr. Jones, Mrs. Ferris Gail Chapman (1971-1972), Mrs. Doug Sherburn, Miss Cringham, Stan Lundy, Nelson Mason, George Neufeld, and Mrs. Jack Mattern (1979).

Near the 1952 school is a cemetery, the earliest grave in which dates from 1914.

Lumber school built in 1946 by the grandsons of Andrew Monkman who had built the adjacent log school with William Monkman in 1918 (no date) Source: Loon Straits Through the Years: The Monkman Ancestry. Loon Straits School built in 1952 (no date) Source: Loon Straits Through the Years: The Monkman Ancestry. High school and attached teacherage (1960) Source: Loon Straits Through the Years: The Monkman Ancestry. Site Location (lat/long): N51.53460, W96.59469 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Loon Straits Through the Years: The Monkman Ancestry, A History of Loon Straits by Kathleen Monkman, 1985. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.L66 Mon]

This page was prepared by Tim Worth and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 11 February 2023

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