January 16: Roblin MB burns; West End's "Saint Eva"; Canada's first female funeral director.

January 16, 1908 – Winnipeg Firefighter John Hector Stewart dies at his home on Jarvis Avenue. Stewart sustained severe frostbite at the Bright and Johnston Block fire on Bannatyne in December 1907 and never recovered. He was a five-year veteran of the force and just 29 years old.

January 16, 1922 - Violet Guymer (1885-1955) of The Pas becomes the first female licensed funeral director and embalmer in Canada. When her funeral director husband died, leaving her with six children to raise, she decided to take over the family business: Draymen and Contractors, Undertakers.

Her daughter and granddaughter wrote a biography called the Quite an Undertaking: The story of Violet Guymer, Canada's First Female Licensed Funeral Director. (Available at the library.)

January 16, 1951 - Seymour James Farmer dies. He was the 34th Mayor of Winnipeg (1923, 1924) and went on to become the leader of Manitoba's Social Credit Party. He served briefly as a minister in John Bracken's coalition of the early 1940s.

 

January 16, 1906 - J.B. Lauzon opens his butcher shop in his newly constructed Lauzon Block on William Avenue.

January 16, 1943 - A fire in downtown Roblin destroys the Roblin Theatre, Manitoba Co-operative Egg Pool and the county clerk's office. The fire began at 10:30 am and thought to be doused but it flared up again at 9 pm. There were 50 people in the theatre at the time but all escaped safely.

January 16, 1976 - Eva Leadbetter dies. A member of the Salvation Army and resident of the West End, she worked tirelessly to feed, house and give comfort to families during the Depression and World War II.For more on the Saint of Burnell Street.