Person of the Year

Liz Dunster lights up a room when she enters. Described by friends as “a people-lover,” Liz exudes energy and enthusiasm as she greets both friends and strangers with hugs and a warm smile. What becomes apparent later is her persistence, strength of character, and generosity. Seeing her now as the owner of Erika Records, a very successful vinyl record pressing plant in Buena Park, as well as a happy wife, mother of three, and grandmother of six, people might assume that life has been fairly easy for Liz, but that is not the case.

She was born in Budapest, Hungary; but she, her father, and mother, who was pregnant with her brother, Joe, at the time, were forced to flee to Austria during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Both her father and her uncle were wanted by the Soviets. From Austria, the family immigrated to Canada, where they had to acclimate to a new language, culture, and surroundings. Her rebellious spirit was already a part of her then, exemplified by sneaking out of Catholic school in the first grade to watch the movie Pinocchio and leaving her home undetected to go to the neighborhood liquor store where she could watch color television.

A few years later she and her family moved to Southern California. As a teenager she participated in sports like track, and she entered local beauty pageants. She became first runnerup in one of the pageants, having lost the crown because, “the hemline of [her] skirt was shorter than what was deemed acceptable at the time.” Liz, even at the cost of the crown, was not going to compromise who she was and be told what to do and how.

Liz met her husband, Chuck, as a teenager, when she went to the local market with her parents and saw him working there. She told her parents, “He is the man I’m going to marry.” Two decades later in 1989 she and Chuck were married in Lake Tahoe and have been together ever since.

The best example of her persistence and rebellious spirit can be seen in her professional life, as the first woman to own a vinyl record pressing plant in the United States. When she decided to start her own business in 1981, she was dismissed as just another dumb blonde. She heard one man say this about her during a meeting with a major record label, so she turned around and told him that she was “a bottle blonde” and it wouldn’t be the last time they heard about her. Forty-two years later she is enjoying the last laugh as Erika Records and the entire record industry are thriving.

Success did not come easily, however. She sold records out of the trunk of her car at swap meets and at music venues like the Troubadour, to grow her business. And within two years she saved enough to buy a machine shop in Signal Hill, where she could make the records herself. Word spread about the quality of her work, and the business expanded, moving to ever-larger facilities until she ended up in Buena Park with a plant large enough to hold 43 record presses. The operation has been and continues to be a family affair. The company is her daughter Erika’s namesake; her son, Janos, is in charge of operations; husband Chuck contributes as general manager, and her brother, Joe, helped by lending his time and effort as an expeditor.

It would be easy to assume that having to work so hard to establish and maintain her business, while wearing multiple hats as wife and mother, Liz would have been too busy to participate in her community; but that is definitely not the case. While contributing in a variety of ways, Liz has focused her efforts on helping children, in particular the Boys & Girls Club of Buena Park and Caterina’s Club, a nonprofit that provides “access to nutritional food, stable housing, and job training for youth.”

When asked why she is involved with the community, Liz describes one of her first visits to the Boys & Girls Club. “The children were asked what they wanted for Christmas. One boy in particular said that all he wanted was a warm coat. Something as simple as a warm coat, a necessity that you and I have probably taken for granted, is all he wanted. I did my best to fight back tears, but I knew right then that I would do my best to help the underserved youth of our community.” Needless to say, the little boy got his coat as did others in the group.

She plans to continue to donate to the Boys & Girls Club, allowing them to expand their programs. She says, “I believe it’s important for young children to have access to the best possible education in and out of school. And the Boys & Girls Club is a great way to positively impact the local youth.”

Liz serves on the board of both the Boys & Girls Club and Caterina’s Club, and her outstanding service to these two organizations was recognized in 2022. She was an Anaheim White House Tree Lighting Honoree for Philanthropic Excellence, and she received the Boys & Girls Club of Buena Park Rehnborg Award, which is presented to the Volunteer of the Year. She credits her husband for his unwavering support of her altruistic endeavors. He is always there to offer advice and remind her of her purpose when challenges present themselves.

As further proof of her generous spirit, if she came into the funds, she would like to expand her philanthropic pursuits by purchasing 100 acres of land to house and provide needed services to veterans and the elderly—The Forgotten Ones, as she calls them. The space would also contain an animal rescue facility because she believes that the veterans and animals could help each other. Finally, to underscore her commitment to children, she would fund a college scholarship program for youth in underserved communities.

She wants to continue being a voice for the voiceless, those in our communities who are struggling but who are often overlooked. Clearly, Liz is a person who does not back down from a challenge. As she says, “I will do whatever it takes to help those in need.”