Thomas Schenarts

Thomas (Tom) Norman Schenarts, 91, of Missoula, passed away on December 9, 2024, at the Springs at Missoula.

He was born on June 22, 1933, in New Haven, CT, to Thomas and Marion Schenarts.

As a young boy, he developed a life-long love for the outdoors through active participation in the Boy Scouts. In a high school art class, he discovered his artistic talent that would find expression through painting and sculpture throughout his life. He went on to graduate from the University of Connecticut with a degree in Forestry. In 1955 he left the urban Northeast of his youth for the remote forests of northern Idaho, where he began his 35-year career with the US Forest Service.

He married Barbara Prouty, of North Scituate, Massachusetts, on January 12, 1957. In the early years of their married life Tom and Barbara lived on US Forest Service ranger stations in several small communities in Idaho. They welcomed their two daughters during these years. In 1963 the family began spending summers at the Bungalow Ranger Station, on the North Fork of the Clearwater River in Idaho, where Tom became one of the youngest US Forest Service rangers in the country. Tom, Barbara and the girls moved to Missoula in 1968, where Tom held several positions in the US Forest Service Regional Office.

In 1976 he left the forests he loved and returned to the East Coast, this time where he would become a senior executive for the US Forest Service in Washington, DC. During his time in Washington, DC he was privileged to spend six weeks in Liberia, W Africa, on loan to US AID to help develop a forest management plan. He finished his career serving for several years in Broomall, PA, as the director of the Northeast Area of State and Private Forestry, comprising 20 states. He continued his love of forestry in retirement as he and Barbara established and operated a Christmas tree farm in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Tom served on the Township planning commission and he and Barbara worked on restoring their 200 year old Pennsylvania farmhouse.

Tom and Barbara moved back to Missoula in 2005. In this phase of his retirement Tom devoted himself to his art. He was proud of gaining entry into the Montana Watercolor Society. He was an avid historian of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and could be found at Traveler's Rest State Park on Thursday mornings telling groups of visitors about the history of the park. He was a member of the Forest Service Retirees Association and was active in the Missoula Alliance Church.

Survivors include his wife, Barbara, Missoula; two daughters and their families, Debora (Gregg) Olson, Missoula, and Susan (Dave) Pyke, Walnut Creek, CA; one brother Bob Schenarts, Los Angeles, CA; along with five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

A memorial service is being planned for this summer.