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Maribel Yerxa Owen

1961 U.S. pairs champion

Maribel Yerxa Owen, 20, named after her mother, Maribel Yerxa Vinson Owen, had several nicknames, including Little Maribel and Maribel Jr. She didn't become a singles champion like her mother, but she was a successful pairs skater with two different partners. She was born in Boston, Mass., but grew up in Berkeley, Calif. She began skating at age 2 and trained daily alongside her parents, Maribel and Guy Owen, who taught at the St. Moritz Ice Skating Club at the Iceland rink. However, she did not immediately succeed competitively. After her parents divorced, she, her mother and her sister, Laurence, moved to her mother's hometown of Winchester, Mass., in 1954 and joined the Skating Club of Boston. After her singles career stalled, her mother invited 20-year-old Chuck Foster to compete in pairs with her 14-year-old daughter, and together they won the 1955 U.S. junior title in their first year of competition. After winning the 1956 U.S. senior bronze medal, they retired when Chuck graduated from Harvard. A year later, Maribel Owen Jr. formed a pairs team with long-time competitor Dudley Richards. They competed at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif., and were the 1961 U.S. pairs champions and the silver medalists at the 1961 North American Figure Skating Championships. There was speculation that Maribel Owen Jr. and the 29-year-old Richards would announce their engagement after returning from the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

Bio written by Patricia Shelley Bushman, author of Indelible Tracings.