Wife of ski resort founder dies
Marguerite Schenck, wife of one of the founders of the ski resort on Big Mountain, died Dec. 8 in Whitefish at the age of 94.
Schenck’s husband Ed, founded along with George Prentice, the ski resort now known as Whitefish Mountain Resort. Ed died in 1982.
Marguerite grew up in Whitefish and she met Ed just as he was working to launch the ski resort, she told the Pilot in 2018. The couple would go on to marry and raise five children while they watched the resort grow from humble beginnings to the ski resort it is today. Ed served as general manager for more than 30 years.
Jackie Adams, a longtime friend of Marguerite, recalled Ed working on the mountain 20 hours per day while the resort struggled in the early years.
“She was the backbone behind Ed’s creation of the Big Mountain,” she said. “She looked after the homefront while he was on the mountain.”
Adams said Marguerite was devoted to her children and also worked regularly as a nurse, even helping out with vaccine clinics after she retired.
“She had a bright outlook on life,” she said.
Marguerite grew up in Whitefish during the Great Depression. She didn’t learn to ski until Ed took her out a few times after they met, she recalled in 2018 on the 70th anniversary of the resort, but she wasn’t sure she was happy with her decision to learn.
“I remember my first trip up to what was then the top of the mountain,” she told the Pilot, referring to the end of the T-Bar near what is now the top of Chair 2. “And I got up there, and I bent over to tie my boots and I looked down and there was the lodge! ‘What am I doing way up here?’”
Adams recalled that Marguerite always enjoyed a good joke, a party and hosting Sunday dinners for her family.
“Marg always liked a little bit of good cheer,” she said. “She was a good hostess, but she always liked a good party whether it was hers or somebody else’s.”
Mike Muldown, who’s father Lloyd Muldown was one of the first to ski on Big Mountain, said he too remembers Marguerite taking care of the family while Ed worked long hours.
“He never came down from the mountain and she was taking care of the kids and working as a nurse,” he said. “She was quite the character, really authentic. She had a wicked wit and she’d always give me a bad time when she saw me.”
“Without those two,” he said of Ed and Marguerite. “The mountain would never have survived the 50s. There was a lot of sacrifice from them.”
In 2008, the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce awarded her the Great Whitefish Award for her lifetime contributions to the community including the time she spent volunteering for a whole host of nonprofit organizations.
Marguerite is survived by her brother Michael MacDonald and her five children Mary Anne Miles, Suzanne Schenck, Karl Schenck, Ron Schenck and Eric Schenck.
Due to COVID restrictions a celebration of Marguerite’s life is planned for a later date. Austin Funeral and Cremation Services in Whitefish is caring for Marguerite’s family.
