Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ochre River School No. 919 (Ochre River, RM of Lakeshore)

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

The Ochre River School District was organized formally in October 1897 and a log school building was erected in Ochre River in what is now the Rural Municipality of Lakeshore. It was soon replaced, in 1899, by a wood frame structure which served until around 1908 when a two-storey, two-classroom school was built. Three classrooms were added to it in 1948. Shortly afterward, high students began to be bused to Dauphin. The school has since been replaced by the present structure. A commemorative monument, topped with a metal model of the earlier school building, was erected in July 1987.

Principals

Period	Principal
1920-1924	David Smith Tod (1870-1937)
1924-1928	Robert William Dunlop (1876-?)
1928-1931	Louis Erwin “Lewis” Gendron (1896-1973)
1931-1932	Sidney Irvine Mott (1871-?)
1932-1934	William Nelson “Nels” Harvey (1907-2004)
1934-1936	Marie M. Evans
1936-1937	Arthur A. Foster
1937-1940	Edward Marshall Maguire (1915-2005)
1940-1941	Melvin G. Pipe
1941-1946	William George Cooper (1911-1983)
1946-1952	Ernest Carl Single (c1923-2010)
1952-1953	Cecil Victor Gunn (1894-?)
1953-1954	Marie Barton
1954-1956	Nicholas Yarish (1924-2012)
1956-1958	Jan Kup
1958-1959	Abe L. Petkau
1959-1960	Steve Onyschak
1960-1961	Julius Skublen
1961-1963	?
1963-1965	Barry McLachlan

Teachers

Among the early teachers of Ochre River School were Mr. Broadfoot (1898), Anna Switzer, Mamie Sparrow (1938), Gladys Birnie (1938), Margot Richter (1938), E. V. Archibald (1938), H. Atkin (1938), Bernice G. Hearn, Miss Gillespie, Miss Reed, Kathleen Code Simpson, Edith King Marsh, and Paul Hiebert.

School Year	Teachers
1954-1955	Mrs. Josephine Allen, Mrs. Marie Barton, Morris Bohonus, Miss Mabel Geisel, George Pavlin
1955-1956	Mrs. Josephine Allen, Morris Bohonus, Miss Mavis Fox, Michael Kotyluk, George Pavlin
1956-1957	Mrs. Josephine Allen, Joseph Tysarski, Mrs. Violet Tysarski, Alice Watt
1957-1958	Mrs. Josephine Allen, Shirley Allen, Joseph Tysarski, Mrs. Violet Tysarski
1958-1959	Mrs. Josephine Allen, Shirley Allen, Waldy Humeniuk, Mrs. Verna King
1959-1960	Miss Edna Giesbrecht, Mrs. Verna King, Julius Skublen, Mrs. Rosa Solomon
1960-1961	Miss Edna Giesbrecht, Mrs. Verna King, Mrs. Rosa Solomon
1961-1962	?
1962-1963	?
1963-1964	Miss Mary Aitken, Mrs. Wilma McLennon
1964-1965	Mrs. Wilma McLennon, Mrs. Mary Quick
1965-1966	Mrs. Audrey Houston, Margaret Morgan

Photos & Coordinates

Ochre River School (no date) by H. J. Everall Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 23. Ochre River School commemorative monument (May 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N51.06248, W99.77709 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

“The local round,” Dauphin Herald, 20 October 1938, page 9.

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

“Teaching staffs named for “A” and “B” groups,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 9 September 1954, page 1.

“Record-breaking enrollments expected here in collegiate, elementary schools,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 1 September 1955, page 1.

“All-time high enrollments expected for town schools,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 30 August 1956, page 1.

“Town schools open today, high enrollments expected,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 29 August 1957, page 1.

“Total of 110 teachers assigned to schools in Dauphin-Ochre area,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 4 September 1958, pages 1, 6.

“Teaching staffs assigned to rural, village schools,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 3 September 1959, page 1.

“26 rural schools start fall term classes Tuesday,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 31 August 1960, page 4.

“Teaching staff for area schools increases to 132 for opening 1963-64 term,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 21 August 1963, page 1.

“All area schools open classes next Tuesday, 131 on teaching staffs,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 26 August 1964, page 1.

“All schools in area open classes Sept. 1 – 133 on teaching staffs,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 25 August 1965, page 1, 8.

Between Mountain and Lake: A History of Ochre River Rural Municipality, 1885-1970 by Ochre River Women’s Institute History Committee, Neepawa: The Neepawa Press, 1970, pages 25-28.

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.

We thank Nathan Kramer and Lois Braun for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 27 August 2020

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