Cottonwood Heights in the 1960s was in transition from a rural bedroom community at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains to a vibrant suburb. Mark Montague was an integral part of that transformation. 

“I remember Mark moving into the tightknit Stephensen Heights neighborhood in the 60s and immediately taking to the open fields and canyons,” said Dan Mackintosh who still lives in Cottonwood Heights’ Stephensen Heights. “Brighton High School was built just as Mark reached high school age and he embraced everything about Brighton.” 

Montague was a class officer and a football player in the early 70s. He stayed on at Brighton as a teacher aide after graduation while he studied at the University of Utah to become a teacher. He student taught at Brighton and then was offered a teaching position for the going rate of $6,800 per year. 

Montague’s ability to relate with students who were just a few years younger than him was recognized and he was soon paired with Huntsman Award-winning teacher Dave Chavis, a Vietnam veteran, who was just introducing a simulation-based teaching method that was Chavis’ master’s thesis. The Chavis/Montague teaching team introduced the “American Problems” civics curriculum which 50 years later is still a vibrant rite of passage for Brighton seniors. Aaron Hadfield currently continues the simulation-based course. 

“Mark was an MUN giant in the Chavis tradition,” notes John McMorris, a 1978 BHS graduate who followed Montague’s example and returned to teach at his alma mater. In 1979, Mark took over Brighton MUN (Model United Nations) program and turned it into the state champion juggernaut that has maintained its dominance even today. He founded the Jordan School District’s middle school MUN conference which opened MUN to many more students, proved to be a strong educational program and became a feeder program for the Brighton program that went on to win national championships at the United Nations national competition in New York City.

Montague proved to be a polymath as he branched out into even more diverse fields. Coach Montague became a state championship wrestling coach. He says that he was a skier rather than a wrestler in high school. However, Chavis and Don Neff had him join the wrestling team staff soon after he was hired as a teacher. 

“Mark was one of the greats. He learned wrestling along with us but his leadership that he brought to us was where he shined,” recalled Scott Mackintosh, a state wrestler from the 1980’s teams. He was on the coaching staff that guided Brighton to a record 11-straight wrestling state championships. He remained close to the program and hosted a 50-year reunion of all Brighton wrestlers on his property in Riverton. 

He died Jan. 20, 2025 at 71 after a final wrestle with Type 2 diabetes and severe vascular dementia. He was known by his friends, family and colleagues for his unending curiosity. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah, Master of Educational Administration from BYU and a second master’s degree in counseling back at the University of Utah. His teaching and coaching blossomed into counseling at Brighton and into administration as a vice principal.  

Brett Scharman, a UHSAA wrestling referee recalls, “Vice Principal Montague was still our wrestling coach even though he was in administration. He was and is a Brighton legend.” 

Jordan School District took note of the Brighton standout and soon he was vice principal at Bingham, Alta and the newly opening Riverton High School where he brought his enthusiasm and appreciation for traditions and school culture - learned from opening Brighton High as a student decades earlier. Jordan School District soon tapped Montague to be Principal Montague at the flagship Jordan High School. 

In retirement he founded Club Mud Pottery and traveled the West showing his hand creations at art fairs with his wife Camie Montague. And, he rarely missed a Battle of the Ax wrestling match between Brighton and arch rival Hillcrest.  λ