Marge Lowderback: Mud for Marge

It’s not often that you see a college dean go out mud bogging to help raise money for a scholarship.

But that’s one of the things that makes Colorado Mountain College different.

The event was a fundraiser for a special scholarship to be named after one of the most memorable students at the Rifle campus – Marge Lowderback.

“We wanted to do something in memory of her,” explains Linda Kochevar, an administrative tech at CMC Rifle.

And Mud for Marge was born.

The 80-year-old Lowderback had a life-long dream of earning her Associate of Arts degree. She realized that dream when she graduated from the Colorado Mountain College Rifle Campus in May 2002.

Sadly, Lowderback passed away a few weeks after graduation day. But those at Colorado Mountain College Rifle remember enjoying her humor as well as admiring her desire for everyone to continue their education and pursue their own life-long dreams.

“The biggest thing is that she was really excited about getting an education and meeting that goal,” former CMC administrative aide and Mud for Marge organizer Sue Coquoz recalled in a 2004 Post Independent article.

“She didn’t let her age or physical limitations sway her ambition to get her degree. And she wasn’t afraid to get help when she needed it.”

Thanks to a lead gift from Encana Oil & Gas (USA), Inc., along with contributions from local citizens and CMC employees, the Marge Lowderback Memorial Endowed scholarship was established to celebrate the vibrancy of her desire to learn by funding the education of future CMC students.

“What I’ve noticed about the college is that you have your family in Rifle, you have your family at Spring Valley, you have your family in Leadville. You have your family at Steamboat,” says Kochevar.

“Then when we all get together, as a big college, we’re one great, big family.”