I knew Montana had its own Hinsdale, as I visited the small town for a series we authored on other Hinsdales across the country in honor of our 10th anniversary.
What I did not realize is that Montana is home to many Illinois Hinsdaleans. One is Rob Svendsen, who emailed me a while back to let me know that he, his former business partner and his accountant all hailed from the village.
After spending 25 years as a commodity and financial futures trader, he moved to Missoula, the hometown of his second ex-wife, four years ago.
"I always told her that if she left me, I was still moving to Missoula," Svendsen told me. "That was our plan when we were empty-nesters."
Svendsen grew up in town, attending Oak School and Hinsdale Junior High before graduating from Hinsdale Central in 1991. He knew he wanted to move to Montana after spending family vacations there.
"Right now, I think I've been led here for the opportunity. If you want to start a business, this is the place to be. There's 25 years of work out here," said Svendsen, who started a lawn, landscape and irrigation business two years ago.
His former partner, Kevin Hagar, also grew up in Hinsdale, 20 years after Svendsen did. Hagar had moved to Montana for college.
"We met up at Snow Bowl, which is the local ski hill, as instructors," Svendsen said. Of course, Rob Morris, who owns Snow Bowl, is from Hinsdale, too, Svendsen said. (So is Chris Henry, owner of the vinyl records store in town.)
Svendsen's company, which uses electric equipment for lawn, snow and home care, has been well-received in Missoula, which he described as a blue town in a red state.
"I'm really sort of living the dream," he said. "I wasn't planning on being a bachelor at 50, but now that I am, I'm being the best damn bachelor I can be."
Svendsen's accountant, Steve Mauer of MauerPower Consulting, also points to family as the reason he moved to Montana. His ties go back almost 100 years.
"My grandparents met in the 1930s working in Glacier National Park, and they purchased some recreational property here," said Mauer, who lived in Hinsdale from 1973-79 and attended Monroe School, Hinsdale Junior High and Hinsdale Central. After graduation, he first moved to Washington, D.C.
"I like to say Montana was in my DNA, and when it came time to go to college, I tried school at George Washington (University)," he said.
But his heart was in the mountains, and so he transferred to the University of Montana in Missoula. After graduation, he returned to the East Coast to work in New York and earned a graduate degree at the University of Connecticut. But the allure of Montana remained strong.
"My then-wife and I decided that we would rather raise our children in Montana than in the New York metro area," he said. "Her family was here, so we packed up a 4-year-old and a newborn into a Ryder truck and boogied across the country. I don't recommend that, by the way."
He said he and Svendsen met at a business networking event, where they learned they both grew up on Bruner Street.
Mauer, an avid outdoorsman, has loved living in Montana since he moved there in 1993.
"It's a wonderful place," he said. "I enjoy all four seasons of outside activities. There might be a better place, to hunt, fish, ski, hike, camp, but I've been to every other state but Alaska (and) I haven't found it in any other state."
Next week I'll share what I've learned about Elvira and Greg Johnston and their daughter, Sandy Schwartz, former Hinsdaleans who now own Flathead Lake Brewing Co. in Bigfork.
- Pamela Lannom is editor of The Hinsdalean. Readers can email her at [email protected].