The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Shirley Owen was never a teacher, guidance counsellor or classroom aide. But for more than three decades she has nonetheless played a vital role in the education of Creighton Community School students. Now with a heavy heart Owen, secretary-treasurer of the single-school Creighton School Division, has called it a career. 'I'm going to miss the people,' says Owen, whose last day at work was Friday. Owen joined the school division as assistant secretary-treasurer in 1981, working her way up to secretary-treasurer in 1999. With her 64th birthday just around the corner, and with the province imposing multiple changes in how school divisions operate financially, she is ready to step down. 'I just feel that right now it's the right time,' says Owen, who is also an alderwoman with Creighton Town Council. Taking over as the new secretary-treasurer is Owen's assistant, Sheola Jansen. Originally from Cowan, Manitoba, east of Swan River, Owen was a young newlywed when she and her husband moved to Flin Flon in 1967 and Creighton the following year. She worked to raise three children and upgrade her education. In time she landed a part-time position as secretary-treasurer for the Creighton Community Centre. Good fit The job was a good fit for Owen, who loves working with people and numbers, and had education in administration and accounting. That experience helped her land her job with the school division in April of 1981, working as assistant to then-secretary-treasurer Virginia Hamm. Over the years Owen would bear witness to a surge of changes in the way the school division _ and Creighton Community School itself _ operates. The school, which had been K-9, expanded to included grades 10, 11 and 12 as well as pre-kindergarten. Ever-evolving computers dramatically altered the process of calculating budgets and payrolls. And forget the carbon-copied letters. Meanwhile, the provincial government brought down its share of mandates, including the outright removal of taxation powers from the school division. Over the years Owen effectively worked for nearly 30 bosses in the form of seven directors of education and 20 different school board trustees. One of her favourite memories from her career occurred early on when her and Hamm's office was located in a school garage while the main building underwent renovations. In the middle of a ravaging snowstorm, the women managed to navigate their way to the school for a coffee break. 'When we got to the school we found it empty because they had closed the school but they forgot to tell us,' Owen says. 'We phoned around and found out they closed the school, so we went home, too. I'll never forget that.' Though she was never in the classroom, Owen was a familiar face among students. And as a grandmother of 10, she relished any interaction with the youngsters. Just last week, while driving to work on a frigid morning, she stopped to give a ride to two young students on their way to school. In retirement Owen plans to spend much more time with her grandchildren, who are scattered across three provinces. She will also have more hours to devote to her political career, as she was elected to Creighton Town Council, for the second time, last October. 'I'm really excited about that,' she says. 'I'd like to really get involved with (council) more. I think it will fill the void that I'm going to feel from (not) working every day.' Golden years Owen will live out her golden years with husband Max, who retired more than two years ago when his former workplace, the Hudbay copper smelter, shut down. The couple already has a six-week vacation to Hawaii planned for February, and after that, who knows? In retirement, the calendar is wide open. But don't be surprised if Shirley makes her way to Creighton Community School for the odd visit. After all these years, the place is a part of her _ and her a part of it.
