Historic Sites of Manitoba: The Pas School No. 1635 / Mary Duncan Elementary School (Second Avenue West, The Pas)

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

Called The Pas School District No. 1635 when it was organized formally in July 1912, it was the first school district in northern Manitoba. It existed until amalgamated with two other nearby school districts in 1959 and renamed Kelsey School Division No. 45.

In 1915, a two-storey brick structure, The Pas School (known by locals as the Red Brick School) was constructed in The Pas on a design by architect George N. Taylor. The first brick building in the town, it opened for classes in February 1916. In December 1965, as part of the schools 50th anniversary, the Kelsey School Division renamed The Pas Elementary School as Mary Duncan School. It was demolished in October 1974 and was replaced at the site in 1973 by the new Mary Duncan Elementary School. This building was severely damaged in an arson fire on 26 September 2014 and replaced by a new Mary Duncan School which opened in 2016.

Principals (High School)

Period

Principal

1912-1914

Wilfred Tait Fidler (1885-1965)

1914-1917

Mary Duncan (1870-1940)

1917-1919

Jonas Thorlaksson Jonasson (1890-1978)

1919-1921

Margaret E. Ross

1921-1922

Maggie R. Stuart

1922-1923

Henry Gordon Hanley
Walter White

1923-1925

John Elwood Ridd (1896-1986)

1925-1926

William R. Robeson
Amy C. P. Kavanagh

1926-1928

Gudmundur Olafur Thorsteinson (1888-1934)

1928-1932

Albert Livingstone “Bert” Mills (1901-1984)

1932-1934

John Edward Lysecki (1905-1990)

1934-1938

Harvey Richard Brown (1895-1962)

1938-1939

Wilfrid Gatley Booth (1904-1986)

1939-1946

Bernice Scott Bateman (1907-1996)

1946-1947

Ernest George Goodwin (1913-2005)

1947-1949

Herbert Clarence Ray (1902-1990)

1949-1951

John Nathan Robert Clark (1912-1990)

1952-1958

Ernest George Goodwin (1913-?)

1958-1959

Vivian Clarkson “Clark” Hardy (1897-1982)

1959-1962

Norman S. Toms (c1931-?)

1962-1964

Bryant Moloy Hasker (1932-1999)

1964-1966

James Patrick Claggett (1933-1990)

Principals (Elementary)

Period

Principal

1922-1937

Mary Duncan (1870-1940)

1937-1940

Charles Hugh Logie

1940-1952

Helen Thompson

1952-1957

Mary Walker

1957-1958

Geoff Smith

1958-1962

Marion Pinuta

1962-1966

Rita Fouillard

1966-1968

William Doherty

1968-1971

Edward Andrew “Ed” Husack (1940-2020)

1971-1972

Vaughn Wadelius

1972-1973

Lloyd Goulash

Principals (Junior High)

Period

Principal

1937-1938

Gabriel Henri Marcoux (1900-1969)

Teachers

School Year

Teachers

1912-1913

Wilfred Tait Fidler (senior grades), Edith L. McLauchlin (junior grades)

1913-1914

Wilfred Tait Fidler (senior grades), Edith L. McLauchlin (junior grades)

1914-1915

(The Pas School District): Esther Bayer [Boyer?] (grades 5-6), M. Velma Bickle (grades 2-3), Annie Alexandra Campbell (grades 1-3), Mary Duncan (grades 4-9), Antoinette Kersack [Keroach?] (grades 1-2)

1915-1916

(The Pas School District): Esther Bayer (grades 4-10, Fall; grades 4-7, Spring), Annie Alexandra Campbell (grades 1-3, Fall; grades 1-2, Spring), Mary Duncan (grades 4-9, Fall; grades 5-8, Spring), Antoinette Kersack (grades 1-3), Jessie Weatherhead (grades 1-3, Fall; grades 3-4, Spring)

1916-1917

Esther Bayer, Annie Alexandra Campbell, Mary Duncan, Antoinette Kersack, Jessie Weatherhead

1917-1918

Annie Alexandra Campbell, Mary Duncan, Jessie Weatherhead

1918-1919

Mary Duncan, Lida M. Smith, Margaret Wahn

1919-1920

Mary Duncan, Margaret A. Perry, Myrtle G. Rusnel, Margaret Wahn

1920-1921

Doris Burton, Mary Duncan, Zena Hagen, Miss McKinnon, Edna Ritchie, Miss Thomburg, Ruth Willy

1921-1922

Harriet Anderson, Jeanette Black, Mary Duncan, Margaret Fanset, Roberta Robertson, Maggie R. Stuart, Ruth Wiley

1922-1923

Jeanette Black, Jean Connell, Margaret Fanset, Roberta Robertson, Ruth Wiley

1923-1924

Margaret Inez Barbour, Jean Connell, Margaret Fanset, Ella G. Martin, Roberta Robertson, Blanche V. Yates

1924-1925

Margaret Inez Barbour, Margaret Fanset, Ella G. Martin, Grace McRae, Roberta Robertson, Linnie Y. Wilson

1925-1926

Margaret Inez Barbour, Margaret Fanset, Maude Kerr, Ella G. Martin, Dorothy E. Ritchie, Margaret M. Sutherland, Eva M. Vickery, Linnie Y. Wilson

1926-1927

Margaret Inez Barbour, Jessie Maude Kerr, Ella G. Martin, Dorothy E. Ritchie, Margaret M. Sutherland, Eva M. Vickery, Linnie Y. Wilson

1927-1928

Margaret Inez Barbour, Florence Hughes, Ella G. Martin, Dorothy E. Ritchie, Margaret M. Sutherland, Marguerite Vickery

1928-1929

Margaretta Bagshaw, Margaret Inez Barbour, Jessie F. Davie, Jeanette Mae Eagle, Ella G. Martin, Annie Ridyard, Florence H. Searle, Muriel K. Steen, Margaret M. Sutherland, Eva M. Vickery

1929-1930

Ethel May Barager, Margaretta Bagshaw, Margaret Inez Barbour, Jessie F. Davie, Jeanette Mae Eagle, Ella G. Martin, Annie Ridyard, Helen O. Searle, Muriel K. Steen, Harold M. Stinson, Thomas E. Sweet, Margaret M. Sutherland, Eva M. Vickery

1930-1931

Miss Bann, Agnes Bannerman, Ethel May Barager, Margaret Inez Barbour, Jessie Davie, Ella G. Martin, H. Schunaman, Margaret Sutherland

1931-1932

Ethel May Barager, Margaret Inez Barbour, Laura Connor, Jessie F. Davie, Jeanette M. Eagle, Birdie Emerson Gamey, Jacob Frank Klassen, Yvonne Larose, Margaret Mitchell, George E. Pickard, Florence Helen Searle, Muriel K. Steen, Helen Thomson

1932-1933

Ethel May Barager, Margaret Inez Barbour, Laura M. Connor, Jessie F. Davie, Jeanette M. Eagle, Birdie Emerson Gamey, Jacob F. Klassen, Gabriel H. Marcoux, Mary Ellen McMillan, Margaret Mitchell, Jessie Montgomery, Florence M. Reid, Eleanore Steen, Helen Thompson

1933-1934

Ethel May Barager, Margaret Inez Barbour, Jeanette M. Eagle, Birdie Emerson Gamey, Clara Junkin, Jacob F. Klassen, Gabriel H. Marcoux, Jean Marr, Mary Ellen McMillan, Margaret Mitchell, Jeannie Newman, Florence M. Reid, Alice Solstad, Margaret Eleanore Steen, Helen Thompson

1934-1935

Margaret Inez Barbour, Aileen Brandon, J. W. Chalmers, Evelyn H. W. Coad, Jessie Davie, Jeanette M. Eagle, Fleming Hunter, Birdie Emerson Gamey, Clara Junkin, Hannah Velma Junkin, Margaret Leggat, Charles Logie, Gabriel H. Marcoux, Mary Ellen McMillan, Margaret Mitchell, Florence Margaret Reid, Alice Solstad, Eleanore Steen, Margaret Steen, Helen Thompson

1935-1936

Margaret Inez Barbour, Alice Aileen Brandon, Evelyn H. W. Coad, Jeanette Mae Eagle, Birdie Emerson Gamey, Robert Fleming Hunter, Margaret Frances Jackson, Clara Margaret Junkin, Hannah Velma Junkin, Margaret Leggat,,Mary Ellen McMillan, Margaret Mitchell, Margaret Eleanore Steen, Helen Thompson, John Wilson

1936-1937

Margaret Inez Barbour, Jessie Davie, Jeanette Mae Eagle, Birdie Emerson Gamey, Robert Fleming Hunter, Clara Margaret Junkin, Hannah Velma Junkin, Margaret Leggat, Mary Ellen McMillan, Margaret Mitchell, Margaret Eleanore Steen, Helen Thompson, John Wilson

1937-1938

Margaret Inez Barbour, Elsie Brandon, Evelyne Coad, Birdie Emerson Gamey, Rheta Maud Haryett, Robert Fleming Hunter, Clara Margaret Junkin, Hannah Velma Junkin, Louise Langton, Marie Therese Larose, Isabel McCrindle, Margaret Mitchell, Florence Beatrice Robertson, Helen Kathleen Schoenan, Margaret Eleanore Steen, Helen Thompson

1938-1939

Margaret Inez Barbour, Alice Brandon, Evelyne Coad, Jessie Davie, Birdie Emerson Gamey, Rheta Mae Haryett, Eugene Francis “Frank” Hughes, Robert Fleming Hunter, Hannah Velma Junkin, Louisa Langton, Marie Therese Larose, Charles H. Logie, Margaret McMillan, Margaret Mitchell, Isabel McCrindle, Florence Beatrice Robertson, Margaret Eleanore Steen, Helen Thompson, Horace P. Wilson

1939-1940

Margaret Inez Barbour, Victor Adelard Bonin, Alice Brandon, Evelyne Heddle Wood Coad, Margaret Myrtle Cottingham, Jessie Davie, Ethel Luella Denoon, Birdie Emerson Gamey, Ernest George Goodwin, Eugene Francis “Frank” Hughes, Marie Therese Larose, Charles Hugh Logie, Isabel McCrindle, M. McCrindle, Margaret McMillan, Mary Ellen McMillan, H. Gladys Mitchell, Margaret I. Mitchell, Florence Beatrice Robertson, Helen Thompson

Among the other teachers of The Pas School was Peter Kruszelnicki (1953-1954).

Photos & Coordinates

The Pas School

The Pas School (no date) by J. S. Peach
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 7.

Mary Duncan Elementary School destroyed by fire in 2014

Mary Duncan Elementary School destroyed by fire in 2014 (July 2014)
Source: Alan Mason

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N53.82644, W101.24923
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sacred Heart Roman Catholic School (First Street West, The Pas)

Sources:

“The Pas School wins praise of Inspector,” The Pas Herald and Mining News, 22 January 1915, page 5.

“’Pas Elementary to be renamed “Mary Duncan”,” The Pas Herald, 22 December 1965, page 1.

Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

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.

History of the Kelsey School Division.

This page was prepared by Vaughn Wadelius, Alan Mason, Gordon Goldsborough, and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 4 September 2024

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