Rocky Mountain High Newsletter
October 2003



<<<<<<<<< Letter from Ron Deutschendorf >>>>>>>>>
                  October 2003

    Margaret Elizabeth Thomas, born August 18, 1902 in 
Seattle, Washington died recently, or should I say went home 
finally, to join her family and husband Olaus who passed some 
forty years before, on October 21. She had been ill for some 
time and so this would seem to be a blessing now for her to be
released from the earthly ties that bind us, and allowed to be
free, her spirit soaring with so many others before her. Her
friends, like John Denver, who cared equally about the
environment, presidents like Lyndon B. Johnson who signed the
Wilderness Act in 1964 while she stood by his side having
campaigned so hard for the bill. So many others, members of
the Walton League, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society,
all having made trips to her ranch, like many past presidents,
having been both enlightened and educated about the
environment, the wilderness, conservation, and so much more
just by visiting her, by being in her presence, listening and
learning from her.
     President Clinton bestowed the Presidential Medal of
Freedom upon her in 1998 for her work. Her ranch has been
designated a National Historic District for its conservation
history, and the Murie Center was created in 1997 to carry on
the Muries work. Yes, friends Mardy Murie passed recently! I
personally am saddened by my loss as I, unlike my brother,
never made the trip to the ranch to visit Mardy. I will now at
least make the trip to the ranch and I hope others will also,
in Mardy's memory. For we at Windstar have lost another friend
of the environment who believed as we do. Bless you Mardy
Murie on your future travels, and say hello to my brother,
John. Tell him we at Windstar will carry on!
                     Ron Deutschendorf
                     CEO/President
                     Windstar Board of Trustees