Herman Maricich, figure skating showman, technician, teacher, visionary and Sun Valley icon, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Jan. 4 from congenital heart failure. He was surrounded by family in his Sun Valley home and had recently reached the impressive age of 90.
A loving, involved father and grandfather, Maricich is survived by his five children: Nick, Maria, Tony, Alex and Stasha, and grandchildren Alexandra Maricich and Zac Siele. He is also survived by his two former wives, to whom he always remained close, Connie Chesnel and Mariana Stoltzfus. He will be remembered by many friends and those whose lives he touched and changed for the better.
Maricich came to Sun Valley to skate, and he spent much of his life on Sun Valley ice performing in the resort’s Saturday night ice shows, teaching aspiring skaters and celebrities as the head of the Sun Valley Skating School, building and developing Sun Valley’s rinks and hiring and managing the best pros in the business as teachers to his skaters.
He arrived in Sun Valley in 1942, just after the resort opened its doors. Maricich heard they needed skaters for the show, then called the Ice Carnival. At the time, he was working in a shipyard, and the lure of sunshine, clean air, mountains and pretty skaters made it an easy decision to hop on a train to Idaho.
Training to be a fighter pilot took Maricich away during the war years. He was an officer in the Air Force, flying P-47 single-engine fighter planes. After the war, he returned to California and earned a degree in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley on the GI Bill.
But he returned to Sun Valley in 1947 and made it home. Here he raised his children, and here he created the Maricich era in Sun Valley skating.
A service celebrating this joyous and accomplished life is planned during a vigil on Friday, Jan. 17, at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Ketchum at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to share their memories of Maricich. On Saturday, Jan. 18, mass will be held at Our Lady of the Snows, followed by burial at the Ketchum Cemetery and a reception at the church.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Maricich’s name to the Sun Valley Figure Skating Club, Box 351, Sun Valley, ID 83353.
