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 F. 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 F. 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

Photos & Coordinates

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 (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: 1 December 2023

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