Village News - Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Gerda Hornsveld passed away early Saturday morning, October 10, 2009, at the age of 85.

Gerda was born May 18, 1924, in Baarn, Netherlands. At the age of 25, after surviving WWII and the Nazi occupation of Holland, she immigrated to America in March of 1950.

With her husband Bert and 2 ½-year-old daughter she voyaged aboard a freighter, which took 30 days, passing through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles. Because they loved the ocean, the family settled in the Newport Beach area, where Gerda raised her three children and learned to speak English.

In 1968 the Hornsvelds purchased a small...