Josephine Alicia (Saenz) Nigg (1908 - 2003)

Born 13 May 1908 in Los Angeles, California, United States

Descendants

Died 24 Jun 2003 at age 95 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Josephine Alicia "Josie" Saenz was born May 13, 1908 to the Consul General of Panama in the United States, José SaenzJ a wealthy businessman who lived in Los Angeles, California and Alicia Acosta. Her parents were born in Madrid, Spain.

She was age 15 or 16 when she met John Wayne, an actor in college still named Marion Morrison, while at a beach party in Balboa, California. Their relationship met with considerable resistance from her Catholic family because he was a Presbyterian.

After courting for seven years, Wayne's financial status improved considerably due to his success at the box office, and he was able to convince her family to allow the marriage. The couple married on June 24, 1933, in a garden ceremony at actress Loretta Young's home.

The couple had four children:

Michael Wayne (film producer, November 23, 1934 – April 2, 2003),

Mary Antonia "Toni" Morrison-LaCava (February 25, 1936 – December 6, 2000),

Patrick Wayne (born July 15, 1939)

Melinda Morrison-Muñoz (born December 3, 1940).

After a few years, the marriage was in trouble. Wayne worked long hours at his career and was always surrounded by associates from the film world. The couple also had differences of opinion about how their children should be raised. In 1943 they separated and eventually divorced in 1945.

After Wayne's death, she remarried in 1996 to Cyril Nigg, a Los Angeles philanthropist and businessman, who died in 1999.

Josephine Saenz died in 2003, at age 95, from cancer, having been predeceased by two of her children, Mary Antonia "Toni" Morrison (died 2000 from lung cancer) and Michael Morrison (who died of heart failure in April 2003, two months before Saenz Nigg's own death).

Sources

• "United States Census, 1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2MC-KDD : Wed Jul 19 20:20:46 UTC 2023), Entry for Joe Saenz and Alice Saenz, 1910.

• "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCVS-YRG : Thu Aug 03 13:47:00 UTC 2023), Entry for R Truman Dawes and Viohett S Dawes, 1930.

• "California, County Marriages, 1850-1953", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8JZ-LSM : 17 August 2022), Marion Mitchell Morrison and Josephine Alicia Saenz, 1933.

• "United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9CF-KD7 : Fri Jul 28 05:14:56 UTC 2023), Entry for Marion M Morrison and Josephine S Morrison, 1940.

• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V9R8-9Q7 : 11 January 2021), Josephine S Wayne, 24 Jun 2003; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

• "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K4S-TCDD : 10 February 2023), Josephine S Wayne, .

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31486707/josephine-alicia-wayne_nigg: accessed 04 September 2023), memorial page for Mrs Josephine Alicia “Josie” Saenz Wayne Nigg (13 May 1908–6 Jun 2003), Find a Grave Memorial ID 31486707, citing Pacific View Memorial Park, Corona del Mar, Orange County, California, USA; Maintained by Rene Saenz-Tanner (contributor 47055328).

Acknowledgements

• Arik Russell, firsthand knowledge. Click the Changes tab for the details of edits by Arik and others.

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