Maryanne Hill

Hill on 10-21-1921. Her family moved to Oregon when she was 2 years old to Forest Grove to join her

Mother’s Norwegian parents and adult siblings who relocated to Dilley OR. Due to her father’s asthma

& hay fever, the family spent summers in Government Camp to escape the pollens in the Willamette

Valley. The Hill’s ultimately moved full time to Govt. Camp on Mt. Hood’s south side in the 1930’s

where they built a restaurant called Hills Place and 5 cabins. Charlie fashioned wooden skis for

Maryanne on which she learned to ski and ultimately achieved champion skier status.

In 1941 Charlie Hill purchased the Meldrum Flume Company seeing a way to bring potable water to the

Government Camp Community as it grew and named it the Govt. Camp Water Co.

Maryanne continued to ski in the days known as pre-lift pre-tow in Govt. Camp at Skibowl. She was on

the Winter Sports Court in 1937 and got to travel to Mexico City with the court along with Becky Faubian

Simmons.

Maryanne raced for Govt. Camp’s Cascade Ski Club. She competed in the 1947 Olympic Trials 2 weeks

out of a cast after breaking her Tibia and Fibula at Sun Valley. She went on to become a Certified Ski

Instructor at Mt. Hood (Pin #47) and then a Certified Ski Instructor Examiner.

In 1944 Maryanne graduated from Pacific University with a degree in Education. She was a member of

the Kappa Sorority. She taught at Milwaukie High School, Lewis & Clark College, and for 14 years at

Lincoln High School in Portland.

Maryanne co-founded Skiyente Ski Club in 1955, an all-women’s ski club of serious racers. She served as

the club’s first President. Skiyente is now the oldest, active, chartered ski club in the United States. The

club honors her with an annual Maryanne Cup Race which she attended every year to cheer the girls on

until 2018. The club named her the first female King Winter in 1990. King winter photos are all inside

Charlies’ Mountain View Bar area over the years through today. Skiyente means “Ski Maiden” in

Norwegian.

Maryanne’s aunt Grace Reid of Alliance NE passed in 1961, leaving her an inheritance of her home, and

a few thousand dollars, with which Maryanne purchased both the Govt. Camp Water Co. and Hills Place

Restaurant from her stepmother, after her father’s passing in 1956. She left her teaching career in

Portland moving back to Govt. Camp full time to run both businesses. In 1969 Hills Place burned to the

ground taking with it one of the 5 cabins & the adjoining Government Camp Post Office across from

today’s Huckleberry Inn. All of Maryanne’s trophies, burned with Hills Place. Thankfully nobody was hurt

that lived in the rooms above the restaurant. Her ski medals from the war years survived at her cabin.

Maryanne ran the Govt. Camp Water Company for 57 years until her retirement at age 97 in 2018,

when she turned the company over to her only daughter Lesli Ann Bekins, who worked closely with her f

for several years.

In 1998 Maryanne co-founded the Govt. Camp Museum on main street in Govt. Camp. On their website is a video of Maryanne Hill in a Dale of Norway sweater, about her beloved community and the collections at the Museum. The video is the first on the left.

Cut and paste this link into your browser:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hkupIplgz4

As Maryanne says, “Skiing built this town”.

REMEMBRANCES: Donations &/or Memberships are securely & easily made to the Mt. Hood

Museum at www.MtHoodMuseum.org.

Maryanne served in her mountain community in the following organizations:

Clackamas County Planning Commission - Citizens Advisory board, Land Use Planning 1970’s

President of the Clackamas County Associated Chambers of Commerce 1980’s

Government Camp Recreation Association Business Owner/Member in the early 1980’s

Govt. Camp Community Planning Organization, Board Secretary for several years 1990’s Government Camp Tax Increment Finance, Board of Director – in conjunction with Clackamas

County in 1990-2000’s bringing tax dollars for capital projects benefitting growth & infrastructure in Govt. Camp.

Maryanne loved to travel, taking ski trips within the US as well as in Europe & Switzerland. In 1988 she

went to Seoul South Korea during the 1988 Summer Olympics, then Hong Kong; A Princess Cruise to

Australia, New Zeland & Tonga. She traveled with her daughter to Mexico, Hawaii and Norway.

Maryanne is survived by her loving family, daughter Lesli Ann Bekins of Milwaukie, OR; Her

granddaughter Winde Marie-Ann Bekins Chavez of Vancouver WA along with 6 great grandchildren:

Blaine Montgomery Strachan, Makenna Grace Strachan both of Vancouver; Savanna Holguin-Strachan of

Newberg, OR; Jaxson Carlo Chavez, and twins Vance William & Stella Francine Chavez of Vancouver. She has 2 stepdaughters Amy K. Lawton of Portland, and Sarah L. Lawton-Booth of Beaverton.