Essex's Melba Masse, a pioneer in Vermont high school sports, dies at 92

Melba Masse, a hall of fame coach and longtime administrator at Essex High School who was a central figure in establishing championship tournaments for girls sports in Vermont several years before Title IX went into effect and later became known as the "Queen of Master Schedules" for her dogged, behind-the-scenes work creating season-by-season schedules died on Sunday, Sept. 1. She was 92.

"It’s going to leave a chasm, not a void, because she had her hands involved in so many things," BFA-St. Albans athletic director Dan Marlow said in a phone interview Tuesday. "She put the kids first and she had an unbelievable presence when she walked into a room, you knew who was in charge.

"She had this aura about her, confidence, leadership and selfless. It was never about her."

Masse, who passed away at the McClure Miller Respite House in Colchester , had been working this summer on this winter's statewide Vermont Hockey League schedule. Except for some "fine-tuning," Marlow said Masse finalized the 2024-25 schedule; she's been the scheduler for all 51 seasons of VHL's history. In March, the Vermont Principals' Association named hockey's rotating championship trophy after Masse during a ceremony at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

"She was sharp just as she's always been. I asked her, 'Melba, were you seriously working on the hockey schedule.' And she said, 'Well, of course, we have to get it out,'" Marlow said. "Who else, other than Melba, would worry about someone else? When she was her sickest, or weakest, it didn’t matter, she was unbelievable."

According to Masse's obituary , visiting hours will be held Wednesday, Sept. 11 from 5-8 p.m. at A.W. Rich Funeral Home on Main Street in Essex Junction. Memorial contributions can be made for the establishment of an Essex High School field hockey scholarship, the obituary said.

Masse is predeceased by her husband, Richard, and five siblings. Masse is survived by her two daughters, Nancy Bean and Cathy Kennedy, and other extended family.

Born on Feb. 17, 1932 in Fletcher, Masse was a standout athlete at Cambridge High School and then Johnson State Teachers College, where she graduated from in 1954. Among her various roles in the Essex School District from 1955-2005, Masse taught physical education, coached multiple sports, including starting the field hockey and softball programs at the high school, and served as athletic director. Her teams also won multiple league and state championships.

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Masse, a charter member of the Northern Vermont Athletic Conference and the Vermont Student Athletic Leadership Conference, is a member of the Johnson State, VPA and Vermont Sports halls of fame.

"She loved Vermont and she loved high school sports. It was evident in everything that she did and work she put into it," said friend Mary Stetson, a VPA hall of fame coach and athletic director who retired from Mount Abraham in 2022 .

Jean Robinson, the state's all-time winningest basketball coach, said Masse had a major influence in Robinson getting hired at Essex. Robinson, who also coached JV field hockey under Masse, steered the Hornets' girls basketball team from 1971-1992, capturing seven state titles.

"She liked being around people. She enjoyed doing the things that mattered and being helpful to people," Robinson said. "She had a pretty joyous attitude. She was an all-around person."

Jeff Goodrich, an assistant principal at Essex, said Masse was "an encyclopedia of knowledge."

"There was not a thing you couldn’t touch that she didn’t have an accurate perspective on," said Goodrich, also a former coach and athletic director at Essex. "The depth and breadth of her knowledge is unparalleled. She was a trailblazer and she had a positive impact on so many students and adults."

But perhaps Masse's biggest contribution to Vermont high schools was her determination in seeing the growth of girls sports. In 1970, Masse's Essex field hockey team captured the state's first sanctioned championship for girls.

"Those state championships started because of her. She’s opened up the door for all of us," Stetson said. "For high school women sports, it’s because of her we have state championships. She was in on the ground floor.

"Girls today have so many opportunities and she is the reason. This is the woman who paved the way."

In a 1973 Burlington Free Press story on the rise of girls participation in athletics, Masse said she learned how much of a difference she had already made on her students and athletes.

"You never know when you might have a positive effect on a youngster's life," Masse said.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @aabrami5 .

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Essex's Melba Masse, a pioneer in Vermont high school sports, dies at 92