Winnipeg school honours teacher’s cancer fight with library renaming

A sign for the Erin Daniels Library at École Charleswood School is seen in an undated image. (Pembina Trails School Division)

Hilary Fergusson remembers Erin Daniels as a “master teacher of literacy.”

Daniels was a teacher librarian at École Charleswood School. Fergusson, who is now a literacy support teacher, remembers how she helped support children and help them discover a passion for reading.

“She was incredibly both knowledgeable and humble,” she said. “She was so incredibly kind, really knew how to connect with students and she just loved connecting kids with books.

“That was her gift.”

It was a spirit that Fergusson said stayed with her, even as Daniels was diagnosed with cancer a decade ago. Even as she was battling the illness that would ultimately claim her life in 2024, Fergusson said Daniels stayed positive and helped students and staff.

“She was so resilient,” she said. “So when her cancer came back more aggressively and she was unable to come back to work, we just felt it so heavy in the building. Her loss was just felt throughout the whole community.”

Last month, Charleswood School honoured Daniels’ memory by renaming the school’s library after her.

“We just thought, because she was such an instrumental person in the building to get books in the hands of kids, what a great way to keep her memory alive,” Fergusson said.

When Daniels was originally diagnosed with cancer, Fergusson and a group of students decided to create a fundraising campaign for CancerCare Manitoba. They collected donations at student volleyball games and held a pie-in-the-face raffle fundraiser. Over 10 years, the campaign raised over $31,000 for CancerCare Manitoba.

“She inspired the campaign,” Fergusson said. “It was always about supporting her in her journey, but it was also about just understanding the fact that we wanted her to know that we were thinking of her, we were supporting her, and we wanted to make sure that her legacy continued on after her passing.”

Their fundraising and the library renaming were recently recognized on the floor of the House of Commons on Wednesday by Doug Eyolfson, the Member of Parliament for Winnipeg West.

“It is a lasting tribute to her kindness, courage and unwavering commitment to others,” Eyolfson said. “Her legacy lives on, not only in the funds she raised but also in the compassion she inspired and the community she helped build.”