Jane Hoge Murdock, 88
Jane Hoge Murdock, 88, passed away peacefully on Nov. 21, 2023. She was in the comfort of her home, with family and friends.
Jane was born in New York City on March 31, 1935, to Sally Butler Hoge and Charles Courtney Hoge, Jr; she was the second of two daughters. In 1941, when Jane was six and her sister Anne was nine, her parents divorced. The girls and their mother moved to Wakefield Farm in the rural town of Londonderry, VT. Their farmhouse was on a single-track dirt road; they had no electricity, and they pumped their water by hand from a well. The farm provided them with meat, milk, honey, eggs, and vegetables. In the barn was a pair of draft horses, Bob and Dan, that the girls adored. They learned how to tap maple trees, plant a garden, and how to can vegetables for winter eating. Jane enjoyed the woods in all seasons, and thrived, just like her Mother, on what she called "real country living."
Jane and her sister attended grade school in a one-room schoolhouse in the neighboring village of Landgrove, VT; they walked two miles a day back and forth to school. The schoolhouse had 10 – 12 students at any given time; the older children helped instruct the younger ones. Every day, two children were sent out across the fields at lunchtime to fetch milk from a nearby farm. Along with reading, writing, and arithmetic, one of the lessons was how to identify airplanes. The children were taught to identify the shape and size of the German Messerschmitt fighter plane as a part of the war effort. The idea was that if Jane saw a German fighter plane in the sky, she would quickly tell her mother, who would then call the town operator on the crank phone, who would connect them to the authorities.
Living in Vermont was where Jane's love of the outdoors, and her penchant for New England living, began. Her dedication to the preservation of wildlife habitat spanned her lifetime; she put her own Berkshire property into a land conservation trust. Her early years in Vermont were the foundations of a very hardy character. In Vermont she learned to love and appreciate nature; and her early years marked the beginnings of her vast array of homesteading skills. Into her ‘80's, it was common to see Jane up on a ladder cleaning her gutters. She shoveled her own walkways, and she declined any help with the job.
Jane continued her education in Vermont attending Burr and Burton High School in Manchester, catching her daily ride to school with the local postman. It was there that she quickly found her way to being a top performer in downhill and slalom ski racing. Outfitted in layers of cotton and wool, carrying bamboo ski poles and strapped into wooden skis, her natural abilities flourished. Her skiing earned her a coveted position on the Women's Ski Team at Middlebury College. Jane graduated Cum Laude from Middlebury College in the class of 1956, where she majored in Music Appreciation.
At Middlebury, Jane met her future husband, Channing B. Murdock. They had lots in common: they shared a love of music, tennis, skiing, and enjoyed everything about the outdoors. They adored and admired one another, and their plans to marry after graduation delighted both families. In June of 1956, Jane and Channing were married on the front lawn of Wakefield Farm. Shortly thereafter, Channing's enlistment in the Army took them to El Paso, Texas where their first son, Jeffrey was born in 1958. Jane soon realized that Army life was not conducive to how she wanted to raise her family. They packed up, left the Army and headed back to the Northeast.
After a year in Albany, NY, Channing took a job at the Mohawk ski area in 1960. This was the beginnings of a life in the ski business. In 1962, On a drive through the Berkshires, Jane and Channing found the G-BAR-S Ranch property for sale in the small town of Great Barrington. They purchased the old dude ranch, and together started Butternut Basin Ski Area. In October of 1963, they celebrated the birth of their second son Timothy and a mere two months later opened the ski area on the day before Christmas.
Jane's organization, creativity, and adventurous spirit were the scaffolding of the bold endeavor. Still in her 20's, Jane was on her toes talented and quickly adapted to what was needed in any situation, from learning how to double clutch a school bus while picking up campers for the Butternut Day Camp, to making potato salad for 150 campers and staff every week, to learning bookkeeping while on the job running the ski area together with her husband.
In the early 1970's, Jane's focus turned to playing tennis. The Wyantenuck Country Club held tournaments every summer, where she would compete in the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles finals on a regular basis. She and her dear friend Ruthie would battle it out in the womens singles finals, then they would go on to win the womens doubles trophy together. At the age of 46, Jane signed up for the first ever IRON WOMAN category in the Josh Billings Runaground triathlon. Always one to laugh at herself, she named her one-woman team "Late Bloomer". Much to her own surprise, she came in 2nd place.
In 1995, when Jane was 60, life took a drastic turn while on vacation in Maine. Channing left for his daily bicycle ride just after lunch, but by late evening he had not returned. Jane learned from the police that Channing had crashed his bicycle and was in the hospital. When she arrived at the hospital, she consented to surgery for him. Even with brain surgery, the outlook was uncertain. He did survive that terrible crash, but the brain injury left him with limited speech and lasting impairments. Ever so steady, she devoted herself to his care for the next 15 years. When he moved to assisted living, she continued to visit and support him until her last days.
Throughout her life, Jane contributed to causes that she felt were important: the Fresh Air Fund, The American Cancer Society, Hospice, the George McGovern Campaign, and Sculpture Now were a few. She stepped in with a quiet, yet determined grace; she organized committees, raised money, and ran events. People from all walks of life, friends, and acquaintances would seek her advice, help, and guidance. Jane was not someone to tell you what to do; she was a gifted listener and would help people find their own answers and direction. As a mother, she instilled a sense of self-determination and independence in her children by seeing them for who they were and trusting their inherent decision-making. She taught them about being decent kind-hearted people by her own example, not through instruction. Jane had a knack for knowing what people needed and delivered in every facet of her life.
In her true lighthearted fashion, Jane left a note for her sons about her wishes upon passing that read "At my gathering-funeral or whatever, please have classical music playing—some of my favorites! My spirit will be hovering somewhere nearby—and I will break up the party if you don't do this!!! ...Did anyone ever tell you that you had 2 bossy parents?!"
Jane is survived by her husband Channing Murdock, her son Jef Murdock and wife Regina Wenzek, her son Tim Murdock and his partner Tanya Beecher, her granddaughters Kira Murdock, Amber Naramore and Serena Naramore and her niece and nephew Leslie and Christopher Desmond.
In lieu of flowers, Jane asked that donations be made to the Railroad Street Youth Project or The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. A memorial for Jane will be held from 12 to 3 on Sunday, Dec. 17 in the Upper Lodge at Ski Butternut, 380 State Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230.