MARGARET CHUTICH: IN TENNIS OR SERVING AS A JUDICIAL OFFICER, PRACTICE MAKES YOU BETTER

December 4, 2023

Minnesota State Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chutich (pronounced Chū∙tich) speaks positively about her childhood, career, and life.  “I am grateful for opportunities at Anoka High School—they were forward-thinking.  I was on the cusp as girls’ sports were blooming,” she says of the start of her athletic career in the 1970s. 

Born in 1958, the third of four children of Joe and Marlys had “a lovely upbringing.  My parents owned and operated Joe’s Hardware Hank Store on Main Street in Anoka for thirty-two years and we lived in a house a couple of blocks away.”  Joe was from Leetonia, Minnesota, a former mining town near Hibbing.  The son of Croatian immigrants, Joe did not participate in sports so the task of teaching tennis and playing sports happily fell to Margaret’s athletic mother.  Remarkably, Marlys’s mother, Margaret Hauck Morrill, had played high school basketball in Madison, Minnesota, and lettered in field hockey at the University of Minnesota (U of MN) in 1923!  Another wonderful benefit of Justice Chutich’s childhood was having her maternal grandparents living nearby in Anoka.

Starting tennis at age 9, Margaret—often referred to as “Peggy” or “Peg” during her youth—played in summer tournaments and then started playing on the Anoka High School boys’ team.  As a sophomore, Margaret had a winning record as the # 2 singles player—behind her older brother, Michael.  “I loved playing on the boys’ team—every match was great competition.  My junior year, Ellie Peden [the girls’ coach] encouraged me to switch to the girls’ team because it was the first year of a state tournament for girls.”

A 5’ 6” athlete, Margaret believes her quick reflexes at the net may have been her greatest strength since she did not consider her ground strokes much of a weapon.  As a junior, Margaret qualified for the Minnesota State High School League’s first girls’ state tennis tournament and made it to the finals before falling to sophomore Mary Prebil of St. Cloud Cathedral.  Because Margaret double faulted in the match’s crucial third-set tiebreaker, she set a goal to practice a new serve and win the 1975 state high school championship.  After seldom practicing her tennis game outside of scheduled practices and tournaments, Margaret dedicated more time and effort to the sport.  In a finals rematch with Prebil, Margaret laughs softly, saying, “That was the most ‘Eye of the Tiger’ I ever had,” as she won the 1975 title in dominating fashion.  Mission accomplished. 

Margaret was also an outstanding high school basketball player, setting a school record of 42 points in a losing effort against Hill-Murray in the regional finals her senior season.  She played clarinet in the school band and was also a pianist.  Margaret’s siblings were talented too: older sister Cathy was a gifted instrumentalist, becoming a professional French horn player and her younger sister, Wendy, excelled in vocal performance. 

Graduating in 1976, Margaret was accepted at Stanford University but initially turned down the chance to attend the prestigious school.  When greater financial aid was offered, she headed to Palo Alto, California, and decided to try out for their strong tennis team.  The Cardinal team had 11 top-ranked players so all the women trying out were vying for the final 12^th spot since there was no junior varsity squad.  In a round-robin tournament, Margaret placed second and had the opportunity to challenge those ranked ahead of her, but it did not appeal to her.  Instead, she saw a notice for basketball tryouts and decided to go in that direction. It was quite successful—Margaret became the starting point guard which resulted in a scholarship offer.   

Realizing her dream to travel, Margaret went abroad after her first year of college and returned to Minnesota afterward and attended the U of MN to save money.  Her high school coach, Peden, was now the Gophers’ women’s coach and again encouraged Margaret to join the team.  She was partnered with Patty Moran to form the #1 doubles team and settled in as the #6 singles player, winning the Big Ten championship as a singles player and runner-up in doubles.  Margaret eventually earned a full athletic scholarship and she decided to stay local.  “I loved the team aspect of collegiate tennis. I was a better doubles player than singles player,” Margaret says, and her record of 32 doubles wins in a season, tied for third on the all-time Gopher women’s tennis victory list, bears proof of her opinion.  Still, her 29 individual wins in 1978-79 list her as 10^th in singles’ wins.  She ended her three-year career with the Gophers with 71 wins each in singles and doubles.

Following graduation with a degree in history, Margaret attended the University of Zagreb for a year to study and became fluent in Croatian, her paternal grandparents’ language.  Returning to the US, Margaret enrolled at the University of Michigan Law School, a highly ranked institution which was affordable and where an uncle resided.  She then clerked for the Honorable Diana E. Murphy at the US District Court for the District of Minnesota for two years.  “Justice Murphy was a wonderful mentor and so essential to my career,” says the current Minnesota State Supreme Court Justice who now tries to pass on some of the Judge’s traits to her own law clerks. 

Margaret’s impressive professional experiences also include years in private practice, serving as an Assistant US Attorney, Deputy Attorney General of Minnesota, and Assistant Dean at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the U of MN, before being appointed to the Court of Appeals and then elevated to the State Supreme Court in 2016.  “It has been an honor and privilege to serve on the Minnesota appellate courts.  I have had great colleagues on both courts, and it has been wonderful to have smart law clerks.”

Margaret and Dr. Penny Wheeler, an OB/GYN physician who became CEO of Allina Health, had a commitment ceremony in 1997 and married in 2013 when Minnesota passed the Marriage Equality Act.  They adopted Olivia, who was born in Guatemala and “was the light of our lives.”  She tragically died in 2021 at Iowa State University.  “It was crushing,” says Margaret. 

Support and friendships surround Margaret, though.  Among her friends is Peg Brenden, a pioneer in the Title IX movement in Minnesota.  “When I was starting tennis, she was so kind to me.  We still play tennis together and are friends to this day.”

Sports have taught Margaret several skills.  “You learn time-management, the benefits of collaboration, and how to win and lose—hopefully, gracefully.  In tennis and the legal profession, practice makes you better.”

Margaret Chutich of Anoka High School was runner-up at the first Minnesota State High School League girls’ tennis tournament in 1974 and won the championship in 1975

Also a basketball player, Margaret Chutich was the starting point guard for Stanford University her first year at the prestigious college

Margaret Chutich (third from left) was a three-year letterwinner in tennis at the University of Minnesota and won the Big Ten Conference championship as a #6 singles player and #1 doubles player

Chief Justice of the Minnesota State Supreme Court Lori Gildea swears in new Justice Margaret Chutich. Dr. Penny Wheeler is pictured second to the left and their daughter Olivia is at the far right.

Head shot of Justice Chutich when she was serving on the Minnesota Court of Appeals