Four-time Stanley Cup winner, mentor and storyteller, faithful church builder, champion for local hockey; the list goes on in Marty’s memory
By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR
On June 28, Big Sky resident Marty Pavelich passed away at the age of 96 due to complications from ALS.
Pavelich touched many lives during his 34 years living in Big Sky, and was known for various community roles, from developing a local hockey program and volunteering as an ambassador with Big Sky Resort, to being a “cornerstone” in the construction of the Big Sky Chapel or just a friendly face enjoying his lunch at the Hungry Moose Market and Deli.
Despite his star-striking glory days as a key member and alternate captain of the Detroit Red Wings—in the 1950s, he won four Stanley Cup championships and was a four-time National Hockey League All-Star—Pavelich was also known for his humility. He used his athletic esteem as a platform to give back, and to inspire generations of youngsters while telling stories and carrying himself like a regular guy.
Even as he grew to become the second-oldest living NHL veteran, behind 101-year-old Steve Wochy, according to reporting from NHL.com, Pavelich kept his mind as sharp as his skates, which he would still lace up into his 90s.
Ryan Blechta, former president of the Big Sky Skating and Hockey Association, which Pavelich helped develop, said kids nowadays might not have heard of Pavelich before he’d show up to the rink to drop the puck for Big Sky’s team, the Montana 64’s.
“He’d tell the kids about how many Stanley Cups he won, and their eyes would always get wide,” Blechta told Explore Big Sky in a phone call. Pavelich would show them his ring with four diamonds, one for each NHL title.
“Any time there were kids involved, he was there and was always so engaged,” said Madeleine Feher, director of operations for the Big Sky Community Organization, which took over for BSSHA to provide hockey programming in 2022. “The stories he would tell were captivating to all audiences.”
Pavelich was a driving force behind the construction of an ice rink in Big Sky, dedicated in Pavelich’s name by BSCO in December 2022.
Blechta remembers meeting Pavelich in 2010, when the hockey legend called a meeting to see if anyone would step up to help build a rink and a youth program to go with it.
“He always dreamed about having hockey in Big Sky,” Blechta said. “… He was just looking for someone to drive it.”
When volunteers stepped up, Pavelich stayed involved.
“He was always out there helping us out, giving us advice on making ice… We took his advice, and were able to make some really good ice back in the day,” Blechta remembered. It was special for Pavelich to watch Big Sky’s youth hockey program gain strength and popularity every year.
When the rink was dedicated, “He was in tears… He was just tickled by it, and it was great to see,” Blechta recalled. “My goal was to get that thing named after Marty. He’s such a legend, and hero in the community.”
Feher hopes it will be a lasting tribute to someone who shaped the major American sport and the Big Sky community.
“The Marty Pavelich Ice Rink is a place where all athletes can skate in the steps of a true hockey legend… It should be a place of inspiration,” Feher said.
She knew Pavelich for more than 20 years, and said he was an extraordinary individual.
“And I can say with absolute confidence that his influence extends far beyond the rink… His passion for the game and for life was truly commendable.”
Beyond the rink, community members Brian and Mary Wheeler said the Big Sky Chapel would not have been built without his leadership.
“The bottom line is Marty Pavelich was the cornerstone for the construction of the Big Sky Chapel,” Brian recalled. “… So many people were at the table, but Marty was the man who took the vision and the idea and put it into action for fundraising.”
Almost immediately when Pavelich moved to Big Sky in the early ‘90s, he put his charm to work as a fundraising agent for Big Sky’s Catholic community—people couldn’t say no to the hockey star, and he immediately brought in gifts needed to build the chapel.
And he didn’t just build it. He was there for Sunday mass, and the Wheelers joked that he was sometimes the oldest altar boy in the world—whenever needed, even into his 80s and 90s, Pavelich would perform the duties typically done by a local kid.
The Wheelers will remember Pavelich as charismatic and focused, the assertive mentor who instilled discipline through his advice to their own children and so many others.
“He gave Brian and I incredible advice over the years, and he did the same thing for young kids, trying to straighten them out on certain things… He’s just a great guy,” Mary said.
Brian added, “That’s what I’ll always remember most—the humble hockey player, but also the spiritual inspiration to our family. He was a moral compass, really.”
Sixteen celebrated faces of Big Sky
Pavelich ended up in Big Sky through his connection with Everett Kircher, founder of Boyne Resorts, Big Sky Resort’s parent company. Kircher got into the ski business in Northern Michigan, purchasing land to develop Boyne Mountain in 1947—the same year Pavelich began his NHL career in Detroit, a few hours away.
At some point in the 1950s, Pavelich became a frequent skier at Boyne Mountain. Stephen Kircher, now president and CEO of Boyne Resorts, remembers Pavelich playing pickup hockey on the resort’s skating rink.
“Ever since I was one or two, I remember Marty Pavelich as one of dad’s friends,” Kircher told EBS in a phone call. “He took me under my wing like he did everybody. He’s been my mentor… my coach, ever since I could talk.”
After moving to Big Sky, Pavelich ran Big Sky Resort’s mountain host program as a volunteer. Kircher said Pavelich cared deeply about the guest experience and acted as a mentor to numerous leaders at the resort, even including current GM Troy Nedved.
“He channeled my father better than anybody ever did… Having it run the way Everett would want it run,” Kircher said.
When Big Sky Resort celebrated its 50th winter this year, Kircher’s wife, Molly, co-created a book to document the mountain town’s history. In March 2024, a private launch party for the book doubled as a 50-year celebration for all the resort’s living general managers, and other VIPs in Big Sky history.
Naturally, Pavelich made the guest list.
Molly Kircher designed a poster with 16 distinctive faces painted in watercolor, from Barack Obama and David Letterman to Warren Miller and Chet Huntley, all celebrities who touched Big Sky in some way.
And there’s Pavelich, with jet-black hair of decades past and a beer in his hand, decked in his Red Wings uniform and talking to Olympic skier Spider Sabich.
At the party in March 2024, Stephen Kircher showed the design to Pavelich, and his 96-year-old eyes filled with tears. It was one of the “most amazing, touching moments” of Kircher’s life to celebrate Pavelich while he was still around.
“Marty,” Kircher told him. “You’re in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and you’re in the Big Sky hall of fame, and you’ll forever be in it.”
Kircher is sure that anyone who met Pavelich has benefitted from his guidance and words of wisdom.
Andrew Hofley, Pavelich’s son, feels strongly that without his father’s guidance, he would not have achieved half of everything he did in life—including a successful business career and service as a U.S. Marine.
“He had an eighth grade education, but he’s the wisest man I’ve ever known,” Andrew told EBS.
Andrew’s biological father died at a young age, and his mother remarried to Pavelich seven years later.
“And I won the lottery the day my mom married my dad,” Andrew said. He listed his father’s defining traits: he was positive, he believed in setting goals, he lived within his means, and he treated others the way he’d want to be treated.
Furthermore, Marty had contagious positivity—a knack for brightening anyone’s day, even a stranger who spent just a minute by his side. It was like the finger of God came down and touched him on the forehead, Andrew said. “He was just Mr. Positivity.”
Andrew wanted Marty to know how he felt, so he wrote his father’s life story while Marty would still be around to hear it. About three years ago, Andrew read aloud. It was an incredible moment shared between father and son.
“He changed the trajectory of my life,” Andrew wrote. “He made me the father, the husband, the friend—the man I am today. And I am not alone. Far from it. It has been my life experience that there are very few people you meet through the course of your life that make your day—let alone your week, month, or year—better… You couldn’t help but to feel better about your prospects after talking to Marty Pavelich.”
Andrew chronicled his father’s humble beginnings in his birthplace of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and youth in Park Hill, Ontario. Marty withstood hardship and family tragedy, including his father’s mining accident and suicide, before he turned sixteen when he was drafted to the Red Wings in 1944. He self-identified as a proud American, where he stayed to live out his life through the strong principles that got him there.
In his informal biography, Andrew paraphrased the way that one Big Sky friend described his father.
“Marty is one of the greatest guys that you will ever meet,” they said. “Always positive. Genuinely nice, humble, successful in every meaning of the word, a true role model. Oh, and he played hockey.”
