He saw the smash hit, Mrs. Miniver, got himself invited to a party in her honor, and married her a couple of months later. He took her by train, then buckboard to the New Mexico ranch, 25 miles southeast of Santa Fe, he'd owned since 1943 - a million dollar, 14,000 acre spread with eleven miles of the Glorieta and Pecos Rivers that ran through it, chuck full of Rainbow, Cutthroat Trout and German Browns. Greer took to ranch life, cut back on her movie making and switched to raising a type of big cherry-brown beef cow named Santa Gertrtudis. A painting done by Roy Anderson of Moses, their prize bull, still hangs in the dining room of the ranch.

She and Buddy entertained the rich and famous while also involving themselves in charitable works. The College of Santa Fe rewarded their efforts by the naming of the Greer Garson Theater in 1965. He died in 1988 of Alzheimer's; she in Dallas of heart failure, in 1996.

This writer saw her once - surrounded by friends, standing in the flagstone entry to the Santa Fe Opera. It was the late 1960s and the now internationally famous site was in its infancy. She was a half head taller than Buddy - a sturdy, dark man, chiseled from granite. Her hair was long and deep red; her voice a honey rich brogue. She stood in a white hooded cape, lined with black trim that reached the ground. As her eyes moved over the crowd, she stopped at mine. It was a thrill I'm not likely to forget.

Their Forked Lightning Ranch, now a part of the Pecos National Historical Park, was acquired by the Andrew Mellon Foundation who gave it to the Nature Conservancy, when its 6,000 acres were close to being purchased by an individual with subdivision plans. Newly opened to the public in early 2006, the Park Service has been doing renovations. Greer chose colors that matched her surroundings and they're being duplicated. Exterior stucco is the ochre of the hills; doors and windows, stripped of their lead paint, are now a rich blue. Asbestos wrapping has been removed from the pipes. It isn't wheelchair accessible yet, but there's an aura to it all.

The whole area offers a great variety of history, beginning with stunning pueblo ruins and missions that date from 10,000 years ago. For the Civil War buffs, there's a bit of history, when in 1862, the Confederacy had dreams of getting access to the Santa Fe Trail, where they could go north to Colorado and California and grab gold for their purposes. A Union battalion repelled down Glorieta Mesa's rock face and destroyed 70 Confederate wagons, which sent their dreams and their company into retreat.