They met in Many Glacier 60 years ago

Sixty years ago, Cal Grisé jumped on a train and headed to Glacier National Park.

He was 18 and had just graduated from North Branch High School in Minnesota. He had looked for a job in Minneapolis with some friends, but the only company hiring at the time was Western Electric — lousy work that paid $1.25 an hour.

Grisé and his buddies then saw a want ad for workers in Glacier Park. Grisé and his buddies Jim and Bob Fenner jumped at the chance.

“We’d never even heard of the place,” Grisé recalled last week.

He wound up working as a “house boy” at the Many Glacier Hotel — cleaning rooms, taking the linen to the laundry and sweeping the floor on “Stagger Alley.”

Meanwhile, a Wisconsin girl named Kathy Muskat had also heard about jobs in Glacier Park. Her two brothers, Ray and Joe, had worked in the Park.

She was 18 but a year out of high school. She hopped on the Great Northern Railway train headed for the Park and landed a job at Many Glacier ironing clothes.

Guests in 1954 could have laundry cleaned and pressed, and Muskat ironed shirts all day.

“I had burns up and down my arms,” she recalled. “There were two of us ironing, and we kept bumping into each other.”

Muskat made $35 every two weeks, room and board included. Grisé made $13.20 every two weeks, room and board included.

The two met in the “Many Mingle” room, a recreation room for employees. They went on hikes together, bummed around together and have been a couple ever since.

Cal Grisé and Kathy Muskat have been married now 58 years, Last weekend, they celebrated the 60th anniversary of their meeting in the Park with an overnight trip to the Many Glacier Hotel with longtime friends Garth and Shirley Christensen. The Christensens also met in Glacier Park 60 years ago. Garth was a border agent, and Shirley worked in the hotel.

The Grisé’s romance wasn’t exactly love at first sight — at least not for Kathy.

“We were just friends,” she said. “We started writing each other.”

The two began their young marriage in Wisconsin but always returned to Montana for vacations. They made the move to Columbia Falls permanent in 1972 when Cal bought a car wash and a greenhouse from the Petesch family.

“We had seven and three-quarter kids,” Kathy joked.

Cal had bought a campground franchise and was hoping to start one in Columbia Heights, but the company turned out to be a shady outfit, so he chalked up the investment as a loss. The car wash was their last shot at a life in Montana. It worked out.

Their eight kids — Kevin, Kim, Perry, Teresa, Marie, Colleen, Paul and Monte — all grew up healthy and happy.

Five still live in Montana. Colleen, Teresa, Marie and Paul live in Columbia Falls, Kim lives in Billings, and Perry and Monte live in Minnesota.

Oldest son Kevin probably has the most unique job — he’s “The Hypnotist” in Australia, an extravagant and entertaining show of comedy designed for corporate groups.

The Grisés say there’s no secret to a long marriage. Cal said a marriage isn’t a 50-50 affair.

“It’s 100 percent from everybody,” he said.

Kathy just smiles. Maybe it’s a little more than a 100 percent from the wife, her look says.

“No one wants to make a commitment anymore,” she said.

But she does have some sage advice.

“Eat your oatmeal, be kind to one another and go to church.”