Owen, Maribel (1941–1961)
Owen, Maribel (1941–1961)
American figure skater. Born Maribel Owen, Jr., in Massachusetts in 1941; died in a plane crash on February15, 1961; daughter of Maribel Vinson Owen (1911–1961, a skater and coach) and Guy Owen (a top-ranked skater who died in 1952); sister of Laurence Owen (1945–1961, a figure skater).
Participated in the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley; placed 1st in the U.S. National senior pairs competition and 2nd at the North American championships (1961).
Maribel Owen was on her way to Prague to compete in the figure skating pairs competition with her partner, 28-year-old Dudley Richards, when their plane crashed over Belgium. Three days earlier, she and Richards had placed second in the North American championships in Philadelphia, preceded by a first at the January 27th U.S. National figure skating championships at Colorado Springs. Along with her sister Laurence Owen , Maribel executed "programs far removed in kind and execution from the usual tedious but to-be-respected arrangements of jumps and spins," wrote Barbara Heilman in Sports Illustrated. Maribel Owen was a senior at Boston University, preparing for a career in teaching.
sources:
Boston Globe. February 15, 1961.
Heilman, Barbara. "Mother Set the Style," in Sports Illustrated. February 13, 1961.