Liz Irwin
The Matriarch of San Onofre
by Terry Eselun
Liz Irwin is one of the grand dames of surfing. With her beautiful smile, her grace, and her loving kindness, she has always embodied the true spirit of aloha. Liz grew up in Santa Ana with her three brothers. Her single mom sometimes managed an all day outing to the beach where she fell in love with the ocean. One fateful day in 1953, Hevs McClelland drove her down to San Onofre where Liz met Jim Irwin. She told him how she wanted to try surfing, so Jim happily offered to teach her. Out in the water, Liz fell and lost the heavy board she was on. It sliced Jim’s leg with a perfect “L” shape. They laughed about it and she told him he was now “branded.” They started surfing and dating and eventually married in 1956, recently celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.
Liz had inherited a small dowry of $1500 which she used to make the down payment on a $15,000 house in Manhattan Beach, today worth over a million. She worked for a time at Hughes Aircraft, however, once she had her two girls, she became a stay-at-home Mom.
The Irwin’s were a surfing and skiing family. Jim was an original board member of the San Onofre Surf Club, so they spent countless days surfing and sunning there. In fact, on Father’s Day 58 years ago, Liz went into labor with her daughter Wendy while surfing at San Onofre. Jim rushed her back up to Santa Monica where Wendy was born.
Very few women surfed in the 50’s and 60’s and Liz would often surf together with Marge Calhoun near the Manhattan Pier. Liz also enjoyed hula dancing. For over 40 years she entertained at luaus and clubs around Southern California.
When Liz’s daughter Wendy heard about WISA, Liz and Wendy went to one of their first meetings. Liz began competing in the senior women’s division while Wendy competed in the juniors. They loved it, mother and daughter surfing in contests together from San Diego to Santa Cruz. Here again, it was a family affair, Jim announced the action for the Hang Ten WISA Pro Contest at Malibu.
Liz Irwin was the heart and soul of WISA, tall and stately, she shared the aloha spirit wherever she went. In fact during the first 1975 Hang Ten WISA pro contest, the Irwin’s housed three girls from Australia, Wales, and Texas. Her daughter Wendy remembers her and her mom driving up the coast to Malibu for a dawn practice session before the contest. She recalls the full moon over the bay and the fiery sunrise over the Santa Monica Mountains and thinking, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”
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