Marcelle Helen Barkley Herz

Reno ski program founder also involved in early childhood education
Sportswoman, educator and early childhood advocate, Marcelle Herz was influential in all her fields of interest. The Junior Ski Program she co-founded has produced champion skiers as well as generations of recreational skiers, many of whom received financial support from the foundation named for her. Her involvement in early childhood education produced high standards in her county. Decades after her death, a Washoe County middle school was named for her.

Marcelle Helen Barkley entered this world on December 7, 1911, in Madras, Oregon. Her parents were James H. and Viola Barkley, and she was the fourth child to be born into the growing family. They would later be joined by four more children in the next eight years, and the family would be completed with three daughters and five sons. Her father was employed in the retail business and the family would live in Oregon, California and Nevada during Marcelle’s childhood. Marcelle was very athletic and, while attending Sacramento High School in 1929, won the U.S. Championship for the 800-meter in track and field.

She attended the University of Nevada and skied for the university ski team. During her university years she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta and her involvement in this organization carried on after graduating on January 27, 1934, from the University of Nevada with a Bachelor of Science. She received a high-school teaching certificate in January 1934 and taught school in Fallon, Yerington, Lake Tahoe and Reno. She was a member of the Junior Century Club during her early years of teaching and served as president.

Throughout this time, she skied with the Reno Ski Club. She was the Nevada State Ski Champion in the slalom and downhill combined in 1947-1950. She held 16 amateur ski records during her period of competitive skiing.

In 1946 she was the owner of the Fenway private preschool located on Arlington Avenue, a small nursery school where children were encouraged to swim in the summer and ski in the winter. The March 28, 1946, issue of the Reno Evening Gazette shows a picture of Marce Herz with six Fenway students on the ski slopes. The heading is “Start ‘em Young, Start ‘Em Right.”

Later newspaper ads show the school was open to children in kindergarten through third grade and sometimes through sixth grade. Calvert Academic courses were taught and curriculum cited in business ads touted ‘Music, Sewing, Art, Horseback, Manual Training and Skiing.” Hot lunch was provided as well as transportation. Newspaper ads show this school was in existence from 1945 through at least 1951.
On January 2, 1946, she married Walter John Herz, a member of an old Virginia City/Reno family. He was also a skier and together they skied with the Reno Ski Club.

She recognized how beneficial skiing could be to the youth of Reno and she, along with Hal Codding (Codding and Wetzel Sporting Goods Store) and Keston Ramsey (owner of Sky Tavern), initiated a ski program in 1948-49. The program evolved from a few youngsters being transported by private vehicles to the ski slopes into a program where more than 20 buses were transporting hundreds of young skiers to the slopes each winter weekend. The October 24, 1953, Nevada State Journal described an expansion of the Junior Ski Program under the Reno Recreation Department that “Marcelle Herz headed” and noted “2,500-3,000” young skiers were making the trip to the mountains during the winter months.
In 1957, the Reno Evening Gazette ran an article noting two Reno skiers, University of Nevada students Cathy Zimmerman and Dick Dorworth, who had grown up in the Reno Ski Program and had been coached by Marce Herz, were competing in national competitions from which teams would be eventually selected for the 1958 world ski championships and the 1960 Olympics. Dick Dorworth would go on to become a noted ski racer, coach and world record holder.

Marce’s skiing background made her the perfect person to report on ski news for the local newspapers. Her ‘Slalom Column’ began being published in the Reno Evening Gazette in 1949 and she was a winter sports reporter through the early 1960s. She served as a member of the 1960 Olympic press corps covering the winter games at Squaw Valley.

She was honored in 1952 for her accomplishment regarding the Reno Junior Ski Program when she received an award from the National Recreational Association. She was cited as “the individual who had made the most outstanding contribution to recreation in the Reno area.” In January 1964, she was posthumously honored by the Sierra Nevada Sportswriters and the Broadcasters Association with their annual sportsmanship award.

In 1953, Marce opened the Reno Pre-School Inc., located in the same Arlington Ave building where her Fenway school had been located. It appears from lack of newspaper reporting the Reno Pre-School, Inc. did not have the longevity the former school did. While the school was in operation, noted child educators were brought in to speak with staff and parents. The Nevada State Journal in an article dated April 19, 1955, noted Mrs. Lynette Messer, Professor of Education at San Francisco State College and director of nursery school teaching training/supervisor of kindergarten and primary teacher training would be speaking at the Reno Pre School to staff and other interested individuals on the topic “The Value of Nursery School.” In August 1954, the Reno Evening Gazette reported the “organization devoted to the care and training of young children was honored with a plaque by the Committee on Community Projects” and given an opportunity to apply for $10,000 in grants.

During her time in the early education/child care arena in the 1950s, Marce fought for child care ordinances to ensure children were being taken care of and educated by licensed day care owners and staff in spaces that have been “inspected for location, structure, floor space, safety and cleanliness, light, ventilation and heat; arrangement and equipment of rooms, outdoor play area and strict conformance to fire department regulations.” Washoe County drew up its first childcare ordinances in July of 1954 and Marce Herz was involved in its development.

In the 1950s, Marce took on the challenge of outdoor Christmas decorations for her home. Her designs led to commissions from homeowners and other civic groups, and the Marce Herz design business was born.

As an avid athlete, golfing was also part of Marce’s life. She golfed at the Washoe County Golf Course and later Hidden Valley Country Club. On June 24, 1961, the Reno Evening Gazette wrote “Marcie Herz Scores Ace” when she scored a hole-in-one at the Washoe County Golf Course.

Marce’s life was cut tragically short at the age of 52 when she succumbed to metastatic carcinoma at Washoe Medical Center. Surviving was her 17-year-old son, Howard, and her husband of 18 years, Walter.

She left a long legacy. The Reno Junior Ski Program has been in existence for over 77 years. The Marce Herz Foundation, founded in 1995, provides skiing and snowboarding scholarships to young skiers without regard to economic status in conjunction with Sky Tavern. In 2020 the Marce Herz Middle School was opened in Washoe County and shortly thereafter received the honor of being designated as a Governor’s STEM school.

Marce Herz’s achievements, vision, and determination have contributed to a lasting legacy. According to newspaper articles, she was not one to “toot her own horn” but rather shined the light on others. But 61 years after her death, the name Marcelle Barkley Herz continues to appear throughout the worlds of social media, skiing and education.

Marcelle “Marce” Barkley Herz was laid to rest in the Masonic Memorial Gardens at Mountain View Cemetery in January 1964, yet her life just keeps on giving.

Researched by Patti Bernard and written by Marcia Cuccaro. Posted July, 2025.