Educator, writer.
Born at Miami on 14 September 1892, one of eight children of Mary Patterson (1865-?) and Jacob George (1863-1941), cousin of John Milton George and niece of George Paterson, she attended teacher training and worked at Orangeville School (1910) and Miami School (1911-1912). On 24 December 1912, she married James Henry Tooke (1884-1963) at Miami. They had a son, Harold Elwood Tooke (1915-1949), and lived at Miami and Rosebank before moving to Winnipeg.
She joined the Winnipeg School District and taught at Ralph Brown School (1922-1946) and was Principal of Tuxedo Model School (1946-1953). During this time, she was a freelance writer of the Canadian Womens’ Press Club and, in 1935, informally separated from her husband. After her tenure as Principal, she moved to British Columbia where she taught briefly at the T. J. Trapp Technical School (1953-1954) in New Westminster prior to retirement.
There, she met fellow Trapp educator William John Williams (1885-1974). In 1954, she formally divorced Tooke and, on 1 April 1955, married Williams at Vancouver.
She died at New Westminster, British Columbia on 31 January 1972 and her cremains were interred in the Ocean View Cemetery at Burnaby.
Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1901 & 1911 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.
1916, 1921, & 1926 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.
Attestation papers [James Henry Tooke], Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
“Press Women honor first President of Club before departure for World Tour,” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 June 1935, page 8.
Obituary [Jacob George], Winnipeg Tribune, 18 November 1941, page 18.
“An album of Winnipeg women” by Lillian Gibbons, Winnipeg Tribune, 15 January 1946, page 14.
“Harold E. Tooke funeral service,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 May 1949, page 6.
“Boys become cooks,” Winnipeg Tribune, 27 November 1954, Weekend Magazine Volume 4, page 48.
“Rae Tooke wed at coast to Lt. Col. W. J. Williams,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 April 1955, page 17.
“Miss Eva Calder,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 December 1955, page 12.
Obituary [James Henry Tooke], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 June 1963, page 11.
Winnipeg divorce files (ATG 0009A), #302/54 - J. R. Tooke vs J. H. Tooke, GR3208, Archives of Manitoba.
Death registration [Jessie Rae Williams], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 25 February 2024
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