As the silent film flickers in color on the screen we see “Luscious Liz,” the comely young heroine in western dress. She stands with her cowgirl boots in the sand as the hero known as “The Tenderfoot” holds her tight.
Cheek to cheek they smile as the light drifts away over the hills somewhere, “way out west.”
The lights dim and…the picture fades out.
As the silent film flickers in color on the screen we see “Luscious Liz,” the comely young heroine in western dress. She stands with her cowgirl boots in the sand as the hero known as “The Tenderfoot” holds her tight.
Cheek to cheek they smile as the light drifts away over the hills somewhere, “way out west.”
The lights dim and…the picture fades out.
“Cut! Print it!,” the film’s writer/director (and starring as “The Bandit”) Andy Baylor might have yelled. “That’s a wrap!”
In 1939, the Catalina equestrian group known as the “Vaqueros” made a 15-minute full color silent film (a “spoof” of the western genre entitled “The Tenderfoot Returns.”) Local Island residents Jack Emmerich played the hero and Liz Greig played the heroine. Something must have sparked on the movie set during the filming because they fell in love and were married in Las Vegas in 1940.
Elizabeth (Greig) Emmerich Lawton, who starred as the Heroine, died July 3, 2013. She was 95. According to her nephew, retired US Army Colonel Bill Fortier, “At the time of her death, she was believed to have been the oldest living native-born Catalina Islander.” He also said that Jack Emmerich was “the love of her life.”
“Liz was also the last living member of Catalina Island’s original horseback riding group, The Vaqueros, which existed from 1939 to 1942.”Fortier said.
There have since been new riding groups formed called the “Vaqueros” and “Los Caballeros” that ride the hills of Catalina. The Santa Catalina Island Company started the original riding group to give its employees something to do during their days off.
At one time she was the youngest member of the Vaqueros until her very good friend Deedie Wrigley (whose family purchased Catalina in 1919) joined at around age 16. The two remained close until Wrigley’s death in 1992.
Liz was delivered by a hired nurse at a home rented by the family on Metropole Avenue in Avalon on March 30, 1918. At the time, the family was living at. Empire’s Landing.
According to Fortier, Liz’s father, William Hume Greig was born in Quincy, Mass. in 1880, (the eldest of 12 siblings) and he became a stonemason in a long line of stonemasons from Scotland. Early on, his parents moved from Quincy to Barre, Vermont.
“When William was just 8 years old his parents loaded him and his four younger siblings into two wagons being pulled by two horses and headed across America to arrive in Northern California,” Fortier said. “It turned out to be a two-year trip.”
In 1916, William was working for the Los Angeles Harbor Department, which transferred him to become the foreman for the Rock Quarry at Empire’s Landing on Catalina Island.
“He brought along with him his new wife, Frances (Vencon/Mendibles) who was born in Pico, California into one of the first families to settle in the San Gabriel Valley,” Fortier said. “Her family also had a close personal relationship with former Governor Pio Pico’s family.”
The family had to formally move from the Isthmus to Avalon when Liz started school, but often traveled back and forth to the Isthmus and other mountainous locations as their parents worked for the Wrigleys, helping to feed visiting “VIP hunters” and guests of the family.
At one time, they also owned and operated a restaurant (right next to what is now the Marlin Club) called the “Spanish Kitchen.”
Horseback riding on Catalina was one of Liz’s favorite pastimes and it lead to meeting Jack Emmerich, who had been the Financial Officer for Catalina Airlines and was a member of the Vaqueros.
At the time when they made the movie together, Liz had been the secretary to Johnnie Windle, Head of Transportation for the Santa Catalina Island Company.
In 1942, because of the war, they moved to a ranch in Van Nuys where Jack worked as a financial officer for Western Airlines and later started his own insurance company at which Liz worked and continued to operate after Jack’s death.
“They shared a wonderful life together until Jack’s passing in 1962,” Fortier said. “Liz dedicated her entire life to giving to others. She particularly loved being a 40-year member of the LA Chapter of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. She was a member of the Board serving in numerous positions from secretary, to president twice and six times as vice president, and chairing and co-chairing many major events.”
She also held offices in the Catalina Woman’s Club, Republican Women Federated, Van Nuys Woman’s Club, Valley Presbyterian Hospital Board of Directors, Stardust Ball (Benefit), Las Patroncita Guild of Valley Presbyterian Hospital, Lawyers Wives – State of California, Belles and Barristers Ball, Lawyers Wives of San Fernando Valley, National Charity League of Canejo Valley Las Primeras, Westlake Village General Plan Citizens’ Advisory Committee, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists and a supporting member of the Ronald Reagan Library.
She had also been very good friends with Maureen Reagan and traveled to Russia in a group of goodwill ambassadors lead by Reagan.
Liz was preceded in death by her brothers, James W. Greig Sr. of Seal Beach and Bill Greig of Seattle, Washington.
She is survived by her sister, Helen Wilson, 92, of Garden Grove. All four of them were born and raised on Catalina Island at both the Isthmus and in Avalon.
She is also survived by her niece and her husband, Kristina and Retired Army Colonel Bill Fortier of Auburn, CA and their children Shauna and Ananda Vance and grandchildren Gregory and Grant Cook; Nephew and his wife James and Karen Greig of Huntington Beach; Nephew and his wife Jeffrey and Shelly Greig of San Clemente, and their children Courtney and husband Dustin De Roche, Chasen and wife Katlin Greig and Collin Greig; and by Liz’s God-Daughters Demetra and husband Anders Brege and their two sons of London, England; and God Daughter Penny Holt Bernard.
According to Liz’s wishes, her remains were cremated and her ashes will later be scattered by family members in the waters around Catalina Island where she was born, raised and enjoyed many times during her 95 years.
A Memorial Service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday July 19 at St Jude the Apostle Catholic Church at 32032 Lindero Canyon Rd, Westlake Village followed by a reception at a nearby location.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that people consider making a donation in Liz’s name to her favorite non-profit organization, the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge at: Freedom’s Foundation, Los Angeles Chapter, c/o Tanya Caligiuri, 1353 Oak Grove Place, Westlake Village, CA 91362.
