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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

Originally built in 1915, 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

Postcard view of Gimli School (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0053

Gimli School

Gimli School (no date) by H. D. Cumming
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 91.

Gimli School

Gimli School (August 1961)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7448, Album 2, Page 5.

Gimli School

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.

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: 3 December 2019

Historic Sites of Manitoba

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Please note that inclusion in this collection does not mean that a particular site has special status or protection. Some sites are on private property and permission must be secured from the owner prior to visiting.

Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.

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