Longtime Rossmoor resident Ardyth L. Broersma died March 10, 2017 at her home in Rossmoor. She resided in Rossmoor for 53 years, raised four children and was the wife of the late Dr. Berend “Ben” Broersma, a Los Alamitos veterinarian.
A memorial service is scheduled for April 1 at 3 p.m. at the Los Alamitos Community Congregational Church, located at 4111 Katella Ave.
Ardyth was active in a variety of community, church and youth activities, including the Los Alamitos Little League, Girl Scouts, YMCA, PTA and the Rossmoor Women’s Bowling League. She performed in community theater. A talented pianist and vocalist, Ardyth was a member of the choir at Community Congregational Church in Los Alamitos for more than 50 years. She also volunteered many hours counseling breast cancer victims as part of the American Cancer Society’s Reach to Recovery Program.
Born Dec. 8, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan, Ardyth was a star thespian at Cooley High School in Detroit, taking lead and supporting roles in a variety of school productions. She studied piano for years and as a teenager gave many piano recitals at community and church functions. At one point she considered becoming a professional musician. Following high school, she attended nursing school and became a registered nurse in the early 1950s. Shortly thereafter she and a girlfriend headed west in a convertible automobile driving nearly 2000 miles along Route 66 to Long Beach, California. Within one or two days of their arrival they both found jobs as nurses at Long Beach Community Hospital.
She met her future husband Ben at a dance class in Long Beach. The romance was temporarily put on hold, however, as the adventurous Ardyth and her nursing friend decided to move to Oahu, Hawaii, where they continued to work as nurses. Soon enough Ardyth moved back to California and rekindled her romance with Ben. They were married on Aug. 28, 1954 in Detroit.
She followed Ben to northern California as he pursued his studies in veterinary medicine at UC Davis.
During this time she worked as a nurse at Yolo County General Hospital. She often worked graveyard shifts at the hospital as the couple juggled work, school and caring for infant children. Between 1955 and 1960, Ardyth gave birth to four children. Following Ben’s graduation from veterinary school the young Broersma family first moved to Norwalk and then to Rossmoor in 1960. The couple initially had only one car and Ben would ride his bike to work from Rossmoor to the Los Alamitos Animal Hospital on Katella Avenue. In 1963, the family drove across country in the sweltering summer heat in a station wagon with no air conditioning to visit Ardyth’s mother and sister.
In 1966, Ardyth and her family moved from Rossmoor to the newly developed College Park East in Seal Beach. While in College Park East, Ardyth took up bridge and eagerly looked forward to her bridge tournaments. In 1971, the family moved back to Rossmoor. Ardyth loved to travel and over the years visited Hawaii, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. She attended the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and the Kentucky Derby. During these years Ardyth also became an avid tennis player at the Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach and competed in numerous tennis tournaments.
In her later years, Ardyth spent much of her time on church activities at the Community Congregational Church in Los Alamitos. She was one of the longest serving members in the church’s choir. She also dedicated her later years to taking care of Ben during his battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
After a brief illness, Mrs. Broersma died at home surrounded by her loving family on March 10. She is survived by children, Dirk, Tonya, Eric and Mark; seven grandchildren and three great grandchildren; her sister, Denise Singelyn and several nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Community Congregational Church in Los Alamitos or the American Cancer Society.
This article appeared in the March 29, 2017 print edition of the News Enterprise.