Educator.
Born at Glasgow, Scotland on 10 July 1905, daughter of Alastair Macdonald (1866-1934) and Mary Fairley [Fairlie?] (c1868-?), she accompanied her mother and sister to Canada in 1908, following in the footsteps of her father who immigrated one year prior (1907). The family briefly lived at Calgary, Alberta before taking up residence at Minnedosa where she grew up. She attended Minnedosa School (1911-1921), graduated from Brandon College (BA, 1925 via McMaster University), attended studies at the University of Toronto, and embarked upon a career in education.
She taught at Whirlpool School (1926-1928), Big Valley School (1928-1929), and worked near-contiguously in the classrooms of the Minnedosa School District (1929-1947, 1948-1971), at which within her classes daily registers bore her signed middle name spelled with no less than five alternate spellings over the years: McLaughlin, McLaughlan, Maclachlan, MacLaughlan, or MacLaughlin. She was a teacher at Minnedosa North School and Minnedosa South School (1929-1947, 1948-1954) and Crossley Collegiate Institute / Minnedosa Collegiate Institute (1954-1971), the latter where she served as Acting Principal (1956-1957) after the school board was unsuccessful in finding a candidate for that school year. At the collegiate, she also taught English, French, and Physical Education. Her lone out-of-province posting was teaching at Revelstoke, British Columbia (1947-1948), whereafter she returned to her hometown in Manitoba.
Of shorter physical stature, she gained notoriety as “Petite Marie” on account of being the Minnedosa School District's fluently-bilingual French teacher, although in tribute to the healthy respect she commanded, a name ever only uttered in discretely hushed tones and never within her earshot. Her legacy cast an outsized shadow. As of 1999, she still securely held the title of longest total presence within Minnedosa schools dating back to the district's inception, itself representing a sum spanning seven decades split between 10 school years as a student, 40 school years on staff, and followed up with the balance of time as a volunteer librarian (1971-1980s) at the Minnedosa Collegiate Institute / Crossley Collegiate Institute.
She was an avid gardener and was involved with the Minnedosa Horticultural Society, United Church Women, the Business and Professional Women's Society, and was Secretary-Treasurer of the Minnedosa United Church's Sunday School for many years. She resided at Minnedosa with her sister Euphemia Macleod “Effie” Macdonald (Postmaster of Minnedosa Post Office).
She died at Minnedosa on 28 May 1999 and was buried in the Minnedosa Cemetery.
Death registrations, [Alexander Macdonald; sic], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1926 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.
“Brandon College prises in arts,” Brandon Daily Sun, 27 October 1926, page 3.
“Brandon College academy honors are announced,” Brandon Daily Sun, 5 August 1924, page 5.
“News of the west [The following scholarships and prizes have been awarded [...],” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 October 1924, page 7.
“Around town [Quite a number of relatives and friends ...],” Brandon Daily Sun, 26 May 1925, page 5.
“Around town [The Misses Maria Grant, Kathleen Kenner, Peirson; Mary Macdonald, Minnedosa; ...],” Brandon Daily Sun, 18 September 1925, page 9.
“Alastair Macdonald dies after lengthy illness,” Minnedosa Tribune, 27 September 1934, page 5.
“Social and personal [Miss Mary Macdonald of Revelstoke, B.C. ...],” Minnedosa Tribune, 25 December 1947, page 4.
Obituary, Brandon Daily Sun, 31 May 1999, page 13.
“Mary Macdonald passes,” Minnedosa Tribune, 7 June 1999, page 1.
Obituary, Minnedosa Tribune, 7 June 1999, page 22.
“‘Petite Marie’ left her mark,” by Fred Cleverley, Winnipeg Free Press, 7 June 1999, page A6.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Winnipeg estate files (ATG 0025a), PR99-01-51576 Mary MacLachlan Macdonald, GR14253, Archives of Manitoba.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 7 August 2025
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