    [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2025)]
    [Extensions of Remarks]
    [Page E165]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

               HONORING THE LIFE OF MARGARET ``MARG'' VENEKLASEN

                                     ______

                          HON. TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ

                                 of new mexico

                        in the house of representatives

                          Wednesday, February 26, 2025

      Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and
    celebrate the life of Margaret ``VK'' VeneKlasen (Margaret Lorraine
    Bombasaro)--lovingly known to her family and friends and the broader
    Santa Fe, New Mexico community as Marg.
      It is hard to know where to start in honoring the life, achievements
    and contributions of this unstoppable renaissance woman who transformed
    our city and our state for the better over the almost 70 years she gave
    us. A fierce leader and advocate for women and girls, realtor,
    entrepreneur, skier, flight attendant, tap dancer, athlete, matriarch,
    icon, and Santa Fe Living Treasure.
      Marg often said ``It's better to be true to yourself than be
    popular.'' And true to herself she was--although beloved she was for
    it.
      Born in 1927 to a tight-knit, union, Italian immigrant family in
    Joliet, Illinois, Marg was a young athlete who started her career as a
    stewardess for United Airlines. It was on a flight that she met Walter
    Paepcke, who invited her to his new Aspen Ski Resort in Colorado--which
    is where she discovered two of her great loves: skiing and her future
    husband, Gordon VeneKlasen.
      Marg and Gordon, a geophysicist and WWII veteran, were wed in 1953,
    and shared their love of New Mexico and each other until his passing in
    1998. They moved to Santa Fe in 1956, where Marg met her next love: our
    Santa Fe mountains. She wrote in her journal at 94: ``I see the ski
    mountain from my window and check on it every morning. I gave up skiing
    this year, but the mountain is where my heart is.''
      True to her life-long love of sports--which she encouraged all of her
    five children to pursue--Marg was committed to making sports accessible
    to all New Mexican children, regardless of their background. In 1973,
    she co-established the Santa Fe Public School Ski Program, which helped
    40,000 Santa Fe public school children learn to ski. In the 70's, 80's,
    and 90's, she built and led the Northern New Mexico Soccer Club (now
    known as the Northern Soccer Club), and through her leadership, in
    1981, girls soccer was sanctioned as a varsity sport in New Mexico.
      Marg championed ``everyone watches women's sports'' before it was
    cool. She herself was an accomplished tennis player, skier, and
    golfer--she was the first woman to serve on the FIFA National Rules
    Committee and fought for girl athletes to have access to public playing
    fields across sports.
      A successful real estate broker for over 40 years, she co-founded
    VeneKlasen Property Management with her husband Gordon, which they ran
    together for almost 30 years, with a commitment to employing local
    workers and paying decent wages.
      Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe named Marg ``Person of the Year'' for her
    commitment to protecting the traditional culture and wellbeing of the
    city.
      A champion for women and girls throughout her life, she served on the
    boards of Girls, Inc. and the Santa Fe Rape Crisis Center.
      In 2002, Marg was asked by the late Governor Bill Richardson to carry
    the Olympic Torch on its last prestigious leg of its journey: lighting
    the Olympic bonfire on Santa Fe Plaza.
      On January 22, 2025, at the age of 97, Marg passed away peacefully in
    her beloved home of 62 years.
      Today, we include Marg's name and accomplishments into the Record. In
    the words of one of her sons, Garrett, ``She taped wings on people and
    made them into who they were.'' We add our gratitude for the many
    flights of possibility New Mexicans took because of her generosity and
    love for our whole state. It is my honor to enshrine her contributions
    to our state, culture, and economy in history.

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