Historic Sites of Manitoba: École Crane School (888 Crane Avenue, Winnipeg)

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

The ten-classroom elementary school was established in the Fort Garry School District No. 2047. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Prain and Ward and built at a cost of $145,000. The school opened on 1 September 1955. Three years later, six more classrooms were added at the cost of $90,000. It became part of the Fort Garry Municipal School District No. 2361 in 1959 then, later that year, part of the Fort Garry School Division. The school converted to French immersion in the Fall of 1987 and was renamed École Crane.

In 2004, a garden in front of the school was dedicated to late Principal Elizabeth Irene Bennett, and a commemorative plaque was affixed.

Principals

Period	Principal
1955-1962	Cornelius Van “Neil” Thiessen (1919-2016)
1962-1965	Walter Regehr (?-2018)
1965-1969	?
1969-1972	Virginia Beatty Andrew (1927-2020)
1972-?	?
?-1979	Dennis Wilson
1979-1987	?
1987-2004	Elizabeth Irene Bennett (1946-2005)
2004-2009	Michèlle Manaigre-Sims
2009-2016	Anna Zonneveld
2016-?	Brenda Stewart

Vice-Principals

Period	Vice-Principal
1960-1962	Marion Ormrod Smith

Teachers

Period	Teachers
1955-1956	Gladys Isabella Burt (grade 1), Marilyn Marie Gould (grade 4), Olive E. Morris (grade 3), Frederick John “Fred” North (grade 5), Marion Ormrod (grade 1), Grace Evelyn Riddell (grade 2), Cornelius Van Thiessen (grade 6)
1956-1957	Gladys Isabella Burt (grade 1), Letitia Joyce Cawston (grade 5), Emily M. Danyluk (grade 1), Lois Lorraine Hall (grade 2), Olive E. Morris (grade 3), Marion Ormrod (grades 3-4), Cornelius Van Thiessen (grade 6), Grace Evelyn Riddell (grade 2), Marilyn Marie Gould Wallace (grade 4)
1957-1958	Gladys Isabella Burt (grade 1), Letitia Joyce Cawston (grade 5), Ina Elizabeth Coulter (grade 2, January-June), Donalda Mae Dale (grade 2), Emily M. Danyluk (grade 1, September-December), Lois Lorraine Hall (grade 2, September-December), Jenny Lind (grades 5-6), Marion Ormrod (grades 3-4), Sylvia Sanders (grade 4), Hazel Joye Saunders (grade 1, January-June), Cornelius Van Thiessen (grade 6)
1958-1959	Eula Marlene Bridges (grade 3), Ardythe Brownlee (grade 5, January-June), Gladys Isabella Burt (grade 1), Marie C. Campbell (grade 7), Shirley F. Clyde (grade 1), Ellen Muriel Coulter (grade 5, September-December), Ina Elizabeth Coulter (grade 2), Donalda Mae Dale (grade 2), Mavis Arlene Ford (grade 6), H. T. Janzen (grade 6), Jenny Lind (grade 5), Olive E. Morris (grade 3), Marion Ormrod (grade 4), Miss V. M. Perkes (grade 1), Sylvia Sanders (grade 4), June Sellar (grade 4), Marion Robina Smith (grade 7), Nancy J. Wevursky (grade 2)
1959-1960	Gwenneth A. Barron (grade 3), Eula Marlene Bridges (grade 3), Norman Henry Brown (grade 5), Ardythe Anne Brownlee (grade 5), Gladys Isabella Burt (grade 1), Ina Elizabeth Coulter (grade 2), Mavis Arlene Ford (grade 6), Donna Friesen (grade 7), Margaret Gail Harwood (grade 2), H. T. Janzen (grade 6), Dolores Betty Lohrenz (grade 1), Olive E. Morris (grade 3), Paul Neustaedter (grade 7), Miss V. M. Perkes (grade 1), Sylvia Sanders (grade 4), Mrs. E. Stewart (grade 2)
1960-1961	Eula Marlene Bridges (grade 3), Norman Henry Brown (grade 5), Ardythe Anne Brownlee (grade 5), Gladys Isabella Burt (grade 1), Ina Elizabeth Coulter (grade 2), Ruth Helen Fric (grade 4, January-June), Katie Olga Froese (grade 2), Sylvia Edith Goodbun (grade 4, September-December), Margaret Gail Harwood (grade 2), Mavis Arlene Ford Hyde (grade 6), Claudia M. Joyce (grade 1), Alvina Kroeker (grades 3-4), Dolores Betty Lohrenz (grade 1), Olive E. Morris (grade 3, September-December), Gwenneth Anne Mytruk (grade 4), Marion Ormrod (grade 6), Joan Monica Bridget Payne (grade 3, January-June)
1961-1962	Norman Henry Brown (grade 5), Ardythe Anne Brownlee (grade 5), Gladys Isabella Burt (grade 1), Ina Elizabeth Coulter (grade 2), Ruth Helen Fric (grade 4), Claudia M. Joyce (grade 1), Marjorie Kalinowsky (grade 5), Dolores Betty Lohrenz (grade 1), Lynn Carol McLean (grade 5), Marion Ormrod Smith (grade 6)
1962-1963	Eula Marlene Bridges (grade 3), Norman Henry Brown (grade 5), Gladys Isabella Burt (grade 1), Jean Ruth Coates (grade 3), Ina Elizabeth Coulter (grade 2), Jean Rena Eaton (grade 5, November-June), Ruth Helen Fric (grade 4), Katie Olga Froese (grade 2), Margaret Gail Harwood Gilbert (grade 2), Marjorie Kalinowsky (grade 5, September-November), Alvina Kroeker (grade 4), Dolores Betty Lohrenz (grade 1), Joan Marion MacFarlane (grade 4), Lynn Carol McLean (grade 5), Alice Ella Pauls (grade 6), Joan Monica Bridget Payne (grade 3), Verna Marjorie Potoroka (grade 6), Beulah Mary Webb (grade 1)
1963-1964	Ruth Helen Fric (grade 4), Alvina Kroeker (grade 4), S. Legary (grade 3, February), Ada Beatrice Long (grade 3, March-June), Joan Monica Bridget Payne (grade 3, September-February), Beulah Mary Webb (grade 1)
1964-1965	Raymond Douglas Biggs (grade 5), Norman Henry Brown (grade 5), Juanita Loat (grade 3), Marie B. Payette (grade 4), Joan Monica Bridget Payne (grade 3), Katie Olga Froese Wiebe (grade 2)
1965-1966	Ina Elizabeth Coulter (grade 2), Dennis Patrick Hallick (grade 6), Theodor Gerhard Klassen (grade 5, June), Alvina Kroeker (grade 5), Joan Marion MacFarlane (grade 4), Ardythe Anne Brownlee McMaster (grade 5, September-May), Marie B. Payette (grade 4), Joan Monica Bridget Payne (grade 3), Patricia Ann Stefanchuk (grade 3), Diane Day Wilton (grade 4)
1966-1967	Vera Mary Hrycenko (grade 2), Sylvia G. Leith (grade 5), Juanita Loat (grade 3), Ada Beatrice Long (grade 1), Ides Edel Mazur (grade 5), Marie B. Payette (grade 4), Verna Marjorie Potoroka (grade 6), Patricia Ann Stefanchuk (grade 4), Diane Day Wilton (grade 4)

Photos & Coordinates

Crane School (August 2014) Source: Nathan Kramer Commemorative plaque for former Principal Elizabeth Irene Bennett at Crane School (August 2014) Source: Nathan Kramer Choir at Crane School (1960-1961) Source: Christopher Pate Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.83682, W97.14548 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

“Tenders,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 December 1954, page 29.

“Fort Garry,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 August 1955, page 3.

“Three new mayors in metro suburbs,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 October 1957, page 1.

“C. V. Thiessen head Valley teacher group,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 November 1957, page 2.

“Tenders,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 January 1958, page 26.

“Principal to speak,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 March 1963, page 17.

“School’s reopening to affect others,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 May 1979, page 3.

“Fort Garry School Board retirement announcement,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 June 1985, page 10.

“South Winnipeg schools switching principals,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 July 2004, page 67.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Fort Garry School District No. 2047 (Crane School) Daily Registers, GR10356, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Fort Garry School Division No. 5 (Crane School) Daily Registers, GR10356, Archives of Manitoba.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

We thank Christopher Pate and Anna Zonneveld for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 28 August 2021

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