Longtime Sisler High School principal Heshka dies at 87

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This article was published 25/03/2021 (1656 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A well-known principal at Sisler High School, George Heshka, has died — two weeks after an arbitrator ruled he was wrongfully suspended from his position of more than 40 years over allegations of misconduct.

Heshka, 87, died Thursday morning of complications related to a liver and stomach cancer diagnosis he received earlier this month.

He was supposed to return to work Monday, for the first time since the Winnipeg School Division suspended him with pay Nov. 16, 2020, over claims he had created a toxic workplace and tampered with exams. Instead, Heshka was bedridden with severe illness.

An arbitrator ordered the division reinstate Heshka as principal with reasonable restrictions in place, while investigations into the allegations continued.

“The division acted unreasonably in failing to carry out an appropriate balancing of its interests to those of (Heshka),” the arbitrator wrote in his final decision March 9, which outlined the award-winning educator’s commitment to his career and respected reputation.

WSD did not provide comment, citing personnel matters, but confirmed Heshka was expected at work this week and the division has sent condolences to the family.

“We were all so looking forward to welcoming him back to the place he built,” said Carolyn Boyes, who teaches choir at Sisler.

Family members and former colleagues describe Heshka as a man who was passionate about social justice and whose love of education was a “calling” rather than a vocation. Heshka became the principal at Sisler in 1980, after 20 years of working as a teacher.

For much of his career, up until recently, he worked seven days a week.

He won numerous awards throughout his career, including an Order of Manitoba, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and an honorary doctor of letters from the University of Winnipeg.

During his address to the Class of 2013 at U of W, Heshka spoke about how he had grown up as a poor and illiterate student in the North End, “who raised himself above his class through education,” recalls Jon Heshka, eldest of Heshka’s two children.

“That’s the ethic and ethos that dad willed Sisler to become.”

In 2004, Maclean’s magazine recognized Sisler — the largest high school in Winnipeg, with a population of more than 1,800 at present — as a leading Canadian high school under his leadership. More recently, the City of Winnipeg named a greenspace in Tyndall Park after Heshka.

“Heshka saw two and three generations of families send their children to Sisler. He was a true iconoclast and a legend in the community,” said Madalynne Iannone, a former vice-principal who worked alongside Heshka for 33 years.

In the arbitrator’s report, Heshka is quoted as saying he had no interest in retiring “early” in his late 50s or early 60s, as is common for principals. “Quite frankly, there remains a lot to be done at Sisler,” he told the arbitrator.

Adrian Challis, a friend, former colleague and mentee, said Heshka had “one bottom line.”

“Heshka saw two and three generations of families send their children to Sisler. He was a true iconoclast and a legend in the community.”
– Madalynne Iannone, a former Sisler vice-principal

“If you were there for the sake of the student, if the student was the most important person in your job, he would support you,” said Challis, adding Heshka challenged both his staff and students with fair rules and expectations.

On the rare occasion he wasn’t working, Heshka visited with his son and daughter, Kristin, and enjoyed hiking, canoeing and reading political history.

A Canadian flag flew at half-mast in honour of Heshka on the Sisler grounds Thursday. A photo of the long-time principal, accompanied by the message, “Thank you, Dr. Heshka,” and a bouquet of red and white roses were tied to the flagpole.

Former colleagues told the Free Press they will remember Heshka as a lover of cursive writing, who provided tutoring classes to ensure all students were at grade level, provided students with breakfast if they arrived at school hungry, and paved the way for a series of exceptional programs, ranging from dance to cyber defence.

Grade 9 student Harry Emnacen said Heshka was known for being strict — “but the students respected him for that.”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie