Rebecca Louise Schaefer

1941 - 2025

Rebecca Louise (Bricker) Schaefer

Charlemont, MA - A life shaped by mountains, movement, community, and care.

It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Rebecca L. Schaefer, who, together with her husband Roy, helped rebuild and sustain Berkshire East for nearly 50 years. Rebecca passed away peacefully at home on September 1, 2025.

In 1976, when Roy learned of a small bankrupt ski area in Charlemont, the young couple took a leap of faith that changed their lives - and the lives of thousands who would one day ski here. They packed their station wagon, drove east from Michigan with three small children, and arrived at a struggling mountain with no guarantees. What followed was a decades-long labor of love that transformed Berkshire East into a home for families, young athletes, travelers, and the wider ski community.

While Roy took on the operational challenges, Rebecca became the heart of the mountain. She taught in the local school, and just as naturally, she taught on snow. She was the one on the bunny slope making sure every child - especially the shy, the nervous, or the first-timers - got their chance. She believed deeply that skiing could change a child's life, give them confidence, and offer joy in a world that sometimes gave them very little.

Her warmth pulled countless families into the Berkshire East orbit. Ski racers slept on her couches, visiting coaches found a home at her table, and international athletes who showed up with little more than a dream found refuge with the Schaefers. One of them, Igor Vanovac, became part of the family - a testament to Rebecca's ability to adopt anyone who needed a place to land.

Even when she wasn't coaching or cheering from the sidelines, Rebecca was doing the quiet mountain work that no one sees: for 25 years, she and her brother John recycled most of the mountain's trash by hand every single week. Not because anyone told her to - but because the mountain mattered. The land mattered. And the kids who skied it mattered.

She followed ski racing with joy, celebrated the rise of women in the sport, and loved watching her grandchildren compete. She adored seeing Berkshire East alumni friends like Paula Moltzan find their way onto the world stage. She loved dancing to the musicians that came to the resort, Reed Foehl, Greg Smith and more.

Long before the mountain became the first ski area in the world to run on 100% renewable on-site energy, Rebecca taught environmental stewardship one milk carton, one student, one recycling bin at a time.

Even in her mid-80s, battling dementia and then cancer, she insisted on movement. On one of her last outings, she made her son stop the car at the bottom of East Hawley Road - and walked partway up the steep hill toward home. Her final whispered words to a close friend captured exactly who she was:

"Keep going, keep going, keep going."

Rebecca's legacy lives in the mountain she helped revive, the generations of kids she taught, the racers she fed, the coaches she housed, the families she welcomed, and the community she helped build - one small act of care at a time.

She taught us how to ski, how to care for a mountain, and how to keep going.

A memorial will be held Saturday, December 20th at 6pm at Berkshire East. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hawlemont School Parents Association.