Let’s head back in time and visit the life of former Delta school teacher Freda Hayman.
The above photo shows her with her students at the tiny Sunbury School in 1936.
Hayman, (1913-1992), was born Alberta and had two brothers.
According to the Delta Archives, her parents moved to Ladner in 1918 and her father, William McKenzie, operated a jewelry store and optometrist shop on Delta Street until 1944.
They resided on King Edward Street, now called 45th Avenue.
She attended Ladner Elementary School and then King George V High School, graduating in 1929. Also in her graduating class was future Delta Optimist owner and writer Edgar Dunning.
She obtained her teacher's certificate in 1930 and taught in Delta schools.
She also attended Ladner United Church, where she taught Sunday school.
Hayman was also leader of a Canadian Girls in Training group.
In the 1930s she moved from the community but returned to Ladner to teach at Kennedy Superior School in North Delta and then Ladner Elementary School.
She married Jack Hayman in 1941 and they had a daughter, Charlene, in 1944.
After her husband's retirement, they moved to Denman Island and Freda taught for a short time on Vancouver Island.
After her husband's death in 1983, Freda returned to Ladner where she was an active member of the community, including being a volunteer for the Delta Museum and Archives.
A Delta Archives photo from 1923 showing Alice and William McKenzie with daughter Freda, along with Winnifred McKenzie and their dog at their home at 4994-45 Avenue. The house was built in 1921. McKenzie and his wife lived at the home until their deaths in the mid-1960s. The restored house still stands there today and was added to Delta's Heritage Register in 2005
A Delta Archives photo from the 1930s showing teacher Freda Hayman and her students at Trenant School
A Delta Archives photo from 1939 showing Freda Hayman and Barbara Calvert at the Beach Grove Golf Club
A 1958 photograph of Grade 6 students at Ladner Elementary School with Mr. Goodwin, the principal, and teacher Freda Hayman
A 1960s Delta Archives photo of a group planning their high school reunion. Back left to right: Florence Bain, Gordon Martin, Edgar Dunning, Bertha Reynolds and Margaret Berney. Front left to right: Margaret Neilson, Phyllis London, Freda Hayman, Ruth Honeyman and Marjorie Deane
