Note:  Dave Marez, former Roller Derby performer and the stepson of Lita Marez, provided the following bio and pictures to the CAC Website.  We appreciate Dave's assistance!  Anybody wishing to contact Dave to offer condolences may reach him at dave_marez@yahoo.com.

Born in Eagle Pass, TX on March 9, 1938, Lita Marez was ordered by her doctor to participate in sports because she had too much energy.

In 1965 she tried out for the Los Angeles Thunderbirds of Roller Games. She trained for six months, but even after all that time she could not stand up on her roller skates. Her grandfather, Jose, was a big wrestling fan and in 1966 she found herself in Mildred Burke’s School Of Professional Wrestling in Reseda, CA.

Under the direct supervision of Mildred Burke and Johnnie Mae Young, she became a person to be reckoned with on the mat. Because of her bad temper she earned the nickname “Latin Hellcat”. She toured extensively in Japan, Southern California and Arizona.

Throughout her thirteen-year professional wrestling career she held several titles including the California State Women’s Championship (on and off for the duration of her career), Japan’s Women Championship Title Belt (for the two years she held this title she was undefeated) and Japan’s WWWA World Tag Team Championship Title with Masked Lee.

Her toughest opponent was her wrestling teacher and mentor, Johnnie Mae Young. She took the California Women’s Championship from Johnnie Mae Young on December 22, 1966. Lita was best known for her signature moves such as “The Rocker” and “The Boston Crab”. It took her six months to master both of these moves. She was very proud of her accomplishments because women weren’t doing these moves during this era on the mat, only the men were.

Mildred Burke used a photo of Lita executing “The Rocker” on Mae Weston for her publicity stamp and stationary to publicize her wrestling business. On Feb. 22, 1967, Marez along with Johnnie Mae Young, Mae Weston, Perlie Benn and Hatfield Hattie (aka Jane Sherrill) made lady-wrestling history. They fought in the first ever Girls Battle Royal at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Lita did her last wrestling tour in Japan in 1978-79.