Jessie Wowk Elementary School

Jessie Wowk, circa 1965. Photograph courtesy of Helen Wowk.

Jessie Wowk (1894-1993) and her family emigrated from the Ukraine with her parents in 1906. They purchased a farm on Steveston Highway. Jessie was also known as a humanitarian, and during the Depression she gave generously to those standing in the bread lines.

The Richmond School Board asked for names of persons from the various ethnic communities, and hers was submitted by the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians. She is only the second woman in Richmond after Kate McNeely to have had a school named after her: Jessie Wowk Elementary School (1992- ).

Jessie Wowk Elementary  School in 2004. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 2004 43 115.