Frank Carl Verhoorn

Dad was born on Nov. 3, 1931, on the Rustenburger Straat in Amsterdam. A few years later, the family moved to 83 Deurloostraat, a second-story apartment where he lived until he immigrated to the United States. Dad loved his home town so much, even in old age, when he was asked by a gerontologist what he really wanted, dad paused, then said, “A ticket to Amsterdam.”

A defining moment in his early life took place on May 10, 1940, when Germany invaded Holland. The country’s armed forces put up a valiant effort, but in five days Holland surrendered and came under German occupation for the rest of World War II. As a youngster, dad collected shrapnel, monitored European troop movements and witnessed the disappearance of his Jewish neighbors.

He would share stories of his wartime experiences the rest of his life.

After high school, with limited opportunities in post-war Holland, he sought – and lived – the American Dream. In 1951, dad boarded the SS Edam for Hoboken, New Jersey. His uncle in New Jersey, also named Frank Verhoorn, sponsored his immigration to the United States and employed him as a house painter. Both dad and Uncle Frank soon recognized that painting wouldn’t be the profession for dad.

Dad got in touch with a Dutch family he met on his overseas voyage. They offered him lodging if he were to move to sunny Southern California. He took the offer, but was shortly drafted into the U.S. Army.

Dad was assigned to serve in Germany as an interpreter. Because of an error, however, he received orders to board a ship to the Korean War Theater instead. To his good fortune, fighting ended when an armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, the very day he arrived. He served in an office job and had a great time.

Back in Los Angeles, dad found a cashier’s job at Cooks Travel Agency in Downtown Los Angeles.

Dutch immigrants stuck together, welcoming new arrivals, helping them find apartments and jobs, and socializing. At one such gathering in the summer of 1958, dad met Betty, the newly arrived sister of his friend George Freni. Betty was looking for a job.

Not long after, dad and mom ran into each other on a downtown street. Dad mentioned the telephone operator at Cooks had a heart attack and she should take that job. Mom had no car, so dad picked her up each day in his beautiful powder-blue DeSoto Firedome Seville. A romance blossomed, and they were married on Feb. 23, 1959, at the Little Church of the West in Las Vegas.

A year later, Audrey came into the picture. When another baby was on the way six months later, they bought their house in Downey. I was born after the move and Carla joined the family in 1965.

The City of Downey became a hub for our family. Dad’s sister, Jetty, and her husband Cor moved to Downey with our cousin Loesje. She raised her kids – Karl and Michelle – in Downey. Mom’s brother George, his wife Hetty and our cousins George and JoAnne also lived in Downey for many years.

Dad commuted from Downey to the Cooks Travel downtown office for years in a 1964 Volkswagen bug he purchased in Germany. In 1970, he took a job closer to home at Bellflower Travel and bought an olive green Oldsmobile Cutless Supreme from his boss.

In 1972, dad and his brother-in-law George, along with mom and Tante Hetty, launched Internat Travel Service on Villa Square in Downey. George and Hetty later moved back to Holland, leaving dad and mom as proprietors of their own business for the next 25 years. The agency allowed mom and dad to raise us girls, send us to college, pay off their home and save for retirement. Perhaps even more significantly, it opened the door to the world.

Dad visited Israel, Turkey, Japan, France, England, Italy, India, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and many other locales, plus took frequent trips to Holland and family vacations in Washington, D.C., Victoria, Canada, Yellowstone plus beach and mountain camping trips.

In 1987, the first grandchild was born to eldest daughter Audrey, just two days before dad’s 56th birthday. For years, Adam spent a day each week with his Oma and Opa, developing a close relationship that still endures. Grandsons Scott and Steven were born in 1992 and 1993 to Tom and me.

Audrey and Jim welcomed Elizabeth in 1995. Tom and my daughter, Reina, was born in 1997. Carla and Louie marveled the family with triplets Garrett, Arianna and Chloe in 1998. Audrey and Jim’s daughter Katie became dad’s youngest grandchild when she was born in 1999.

Ten years later, we welcomed the first member of the next generation when great-granddaughter Lily was born to Adam and Sophie.

The grandchildren were very much a part of dad’s life. We got together for birthdays and holidays - for many years that included trips to the Palm Springs area over the News Year’s holiday. The family took two cruises together – a trip to Ensenada to celebrate mom and dad’s 45th anniversary and a week-long cruise to the Mexican Riviera for their 50th wedding anniversary.

We three sisters, our husbands, the nine grandchildren, Lily and many friends and family helped celebrate mom and dad’s 60th wedding anniversary one year ago with a party at the Swiss Park. It was a crowning moment for our family to be together for mom and dad’s long and loving relationship.