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Historic Sites of Manitoba: Gimli Public School No. 585 (74 Second Avenue, Gimli, RM of Gimli)

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

Built in 1915 by contractor Halldor Sigurdson, the Gimli Public School served the community until 1974 when it was closed. It was fully renovated and now provides offices for the Municipality of Gimli and other governmental and community groups. The attic in the school is the home of Gimli’s own Huldufolk (hidden people) from Iceland. If you make your way up the spiral staircase and sit quietly, you may even hear them.

In the summer of 1950, work began on construction of a new high school, on the block north of the Gimli Public School. Classes began in its basement in January 1951. The school opened formally in March 1951 and, at that time, separate Principals were assigned to the elementary grades (at the Public School) and senior grades (in the new Collegiate). The Gimli Composite High School building opened in Fall 1961 at which time the former high school became a Junior High School (subsequently the Dr. George Johnson Middle School).

Principals

Period	Principal
1899-1902	Hjortur J. Leo
1902-1907	John Erickson
1907-1908	Freda Harold
1908-1909	Walter Gard Jose (1878-1948)
1909-1910	E. G. Porter
1910-1912	?
1912-1914	Benjamin Hodkinson (1864-1948)
1914-1915	J. E. Rothery
1915-1918	Olafia Jonina Jonsson Melan (1887-1966)
1918-1919	Asta Austmann Oddson (1893-1974)
1919-1921	Gudmundur Olafur Thorsteinson (1888-1934)
1921-1925	Olafia Jonina Jonsson Melan (1887-1966)
1925-1926	Robert Cameron Mulligan (1889-1976)
1926-1929	Alfred Blakely Gillespie (1870-1939)
1929-1935	William Meldrum (1884-1959)
1935-1947	Jon Kristinn Laxdal (1900-1971)
1947-1949	Clarence David “Casey” Voigt (1903-1988)
1949-1950	John Franklin Morrison (1910-1984)
1950-1951	Johann Edvald Sigurjonsson (1900-1972)
1951-1956	John Charles Gottfried (1917-1980)
1956-1959	Samuel Yaremchuk (1933-1997)
1959-1961	Michael William “Mike” Moroz (1923-1991)
1961-1966	Ellen Magnusson
1966-1970	John Moroz
1970	Mary Shebeski
1971-1974	Ted Jaremy

Principals (Gimli Collegiate / High School)

Period	Principal
1951	Johann Edvald Sigurjonsson (1900-1972)
1951-1954	John Peter Packota (?-?)
1954-1956	Walter Zyla
1956	Norman Ernest Wright (1906-1957)
1957-1958	Gordon M. Wiseman
1958-1964	Richard Buck (1907-1994)
1964-1965	John H. Menzies
1965-1973	Harvey A. Benson

Teachers

Among the teachers was Leonard Krueger.

Photos & Coordinates

Postcard view of Gimli School (no date) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0053 Gimli School (no date) by H. D. Cumming Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 91. Gimli School (August 1961) Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7448, Album 2, Page 5. Gimli School (September 2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.63417, W96.98743 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historical Tours in Manitoba: Walking Tour of Gimli

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Historic Sites of Manitoba: New Iceland Heritage Museum (First Avenue, Gimli)

Memorable Manitobans: Leo Friman Kristjanson (1932-2005)

Manitoba Municipalities: Gimli

Sources:

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

A History of Education in the Evergreen School Division by John C. Gottfried, MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 1965.

“Early Icelandic builders in Winnipeg” by S. Aleck Thorarinson, Logberg-Heimskringla, 30 March 1967, page 7.

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.

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

Gimli Public School, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch.

We thank Tim Worth and Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 11 April 2021

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