Dick, Olga Louise (1929-2018)

Olga Dick, 1996.
Photo: Cornerstone Community Church 1996 Photo Directory.

Olga Louise Dick, teacher and camp administrator: born 21 August 1929 in Kitchener, Ontario, to Gerhard K. Dick (1898-1987) and Barbel (Neufeld) Dick (1901-1978), as the oldest of four children. She died on 22 January 2018 in Virgil, Ontario. She is buried in the Niagara Lake Shore Cemetery.

Olga Dick lived in Kitchener, Ontario, until 1947 when her family moved to Virgil, Ontario. She attended Ontario Bible School in Fort Erie, Ontario. She began her teaching career in 1948 at the Bethel School on the southwest corner of Concession 7 and Queenston Road, between Homer and St. Davids, Ontario. Then for 18 years Olga taught at Virgil Public School (1949-1962, 1963-1968). For 16 of those years she had the unique position of teaching in the oldest part of the school, built in 1872, which felt like a one-room school house. For many years she was the Grade 5 teacher.

In 1968 she went to work at the Christian Resort Centre in La Bessonaz, Switzerland, a centre which operated a camp for large groups of children from countries like France, England, Switzerland and Poland for half the year, and ran weekend retreats for community and church groups the other half of the year. From 1968-1973, Olga Dick taught half-time and worked in administration half-time. In 1973 she became the director of the home, a position she held until her retirement.

Olga was known as a stern and competent teacher and administrator, using pedagogical methods that were common at the time and occasionally at the forefront (for example, flash cards for memorizing multiplication tables and competitive spelling bees to learn spelling).

Her final years were lived in Virgil, Ontario, where she was a member of the Cornerstone Community Church.

Bibliography

Bergmann, Helen Reimer, ed. Ebenezer, Virgil Mennonite Brethren Church, 1937-1987. Virgil, ON : The Church, 1987: 90.

Friesen, C. Alfred. Memoirs of the Virgil-Niagara Mennonites: History of the Mennonite Settlement in Niagara-on-the-Lake, 1934-84: 57, 114, 118.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, v.19-07 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2019: #470643.

“Obituary of Olga Louise Dick.” Tallman Funeral Home Website at: https://tallmanfuneralhomes.ca/tribute/details/1345/Olga-Dick/obituary.html. Accessed 24 April 2019.

Virgil. 125 years of Memories. 1872-1997: 52. Full electronic text available at: http://vitacollections.ca/notlheritage/3395649/page/4

Author(s)	Alf Redekopp
Date Published	November 2019

Cite This Article

MLA style

Redekopp, Alf. "Dick, Olga Louise (1929-2018)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2019. Web. 22 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dick,_Olga_Louise_(1929-2018)&oldid=166160.

APA style

Redekopp, Alf. (November 2019). Dick, Olga Louise (1929-2018). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 22 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dick,_Olga_Louise_(1929-2018)&oldid=166160.

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