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For 32 years, with pipe at the ready and her little dog Sassy nearby, ErnaMarie was a presence in Cave Creek. She rejected her last name “Smith.” She didn’t care for it or the former husband who gave it to her.
ErnaMarie was born August 31, 1910, in Chicago. She moved to San Diego, California, married and worked as a freelancer creating brochures. She also sewed, a talent and skill she learned as a child from her tailor father.
In the early 1950s she and her husband Paul (last name unknown) headed east, in a succession of rapid-fire moves. First stop: Palm Desert, then on to Arizona where they managed the Lake Pleasant Ranch for a while. They then ventured to Cave Creek to manage the Cave Creek Store for a year, followed by a stint at Rancho Manaña, next the Cave Creek Inn, then on to Tucson. Tucson was one move too many. ErnaMarie soon returned to the Cave Creek area minus a husband.
ErnaMarie pursued various jobs, seemingly always looking for a new project. Tiny Cave Creek itself became a project.
In 1976 she headed the Fiesta Days Parade, after which she became Cave Creek’s “Parade Lady,” coordinating many Fiesta Days and Fourth of July parades with stellar Grand Marshalls including Dick Van Dyke, Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke), and Hugh Downs.
On the day before Memorial Day 1978, the local boy scouts contacted the Parade Lady, wondering why there was no parade. They wanted to march. ErnaMarie took on the challenge. In record time, she organized other town groups to provide a color guard, music, even a four-year-old majorette.
When not organizing parades, she worked at Frontier Town in the 1970s and early 1980s, loving the job, the Peagler family and the idea of the western-themed town.
In between Frontier Town and town activities, ErnaMarie turned to clothing design, almost by happenstance. She made vests for herself and Lucien, which caught the attention of townsfolk. Soon her intricate, precisely sewn western outfits became a hit among locals and were featured in area boutiques.
An example of her fashion, one of her outfits along with other memorabilia, are on display in the History Wing.
On March 3, 1986, to the town’s shock and grief, ErnaMarie, the feisty entrepreneur and organizer, surprised an intruder and was killed.
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