Gerda Schimscheimer, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother passed away peacefully on February 21, 2023, in Anchorage, Alaska.  She lived 88 wonderful years.

Gerda Sirach was born in the small town of Nieuwendam outside of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on June 2, 1934, to Gerrit Antoon Sirach and Hendrica Francisca Landsheer Sirach. Her early life was idyllic. She told stories about falling in the slootjes, playing amongst the windmills, or going to the beach with her family.  She loved those early years of her life in Holland and called them "The Golden Years," in a book that she wrote dedicated to her loving parents.  She lived through the occupation of Amsterdam during World War II and this experience shaped her outlook and life forever. She learned how to be strong, brave and resilient, understanding that family could and would provide meaning and strength through all of life.

After the war and as a young woman, she met her future husband, Frits, while skating on the canals of Holland. During these years she developed her skills as an artist, drawing sketches of the latest fashions and models for professional advertisements.  Gerda and Frits were married on December 20, 1957, a marriage which lasted 55 years, during which time they were known together as Frits and Gerda, Dad and Mom, Oom Frits and Tante Gerda, Bapa and Mamu. They always dreamed big and shared a great sense of adventure, so when the opportunity came, they immigrated to the United States in 1958 and settled in Emeryville, California where she had her first child, Fred. She learned English quickly and adapted to a new country and new home in beautiful California near the San Francisco Bay.  Fred was then followed by two daughters, Carole and Ingrid.  She became a proud and patriotic American citizen and encouraged her family to be proud Americans as well.  She loved making a wonderful and cozy home in the more than a dozen places where she lived with her family as they moved from California to Boulder, Colorado and back to California where they had their fourth child, Mark.

In 1969, they returned to Holland to be close to their extended families. She happily traveled throughout Europe to show her family the places she loved, especially the alps in Austria. This traveling gave her children a world and global view early in life.

The family moved back to the United States and lived in Maryland for a few years, where she learned about the history of the United States, visiting historic sites in Washington DC and the Civil War battlefields.  It is here where she found the greatness of America.  She loved to read about Lincoln and Washington her entire life and became quite a scholar of these heroes of hers.  But Mom longed for the warmth, weather and flowers of California. The family moved back to the beautiful state that she loved most. It was a great choice and the family camped and hiked often at Lake Tahoe and in the Sierra Nevada mountains. They finally settled in a beautiful home in sunny Morgan Hill, California. Over the years, they gardened together, creating a masterpiece of trees and flowers on their orchard land in Paradise Valley. She enjoyed having her five grandchildren come to the land to climb trees, read the "King the Mice and the Cheese" (while they nibbled on cheese), and run around the orchard.

As the years moved on she became even more creative and spent her time painting scenes from her gardens and favorite flowers on wood and canvases, embroidered, knitted her own specially designed blankets and sweaters, grew flowers and gardened, creatively decorated her home, played piano and took up writing. All of Gerda's amazing art and creativity will be cherished from generation to generation.

In late 2012 as Frits' health declined, Gerda moved to Anchorage, Alaska to be near Mark and Carole.  She created a new cozy and whimsical home in Bear Valley, Alaska.  She made new friends, Bob and Cindy, and enjoyed her newfound independence, although she missed Frits tremendously. She expressed her respect for him when she wrote a book about his life called "Follow Me, He Said".  She always spoke fondly of him and their life together.  She celebrated and revered what they had accomplished together.

Gerda will be remembered for her boundless and original creativity, wit, storytelling and laughter, love of classical music, sense of adventure, and love for her children, grandchildren, and the husband who adored her.  She had an eye for beauty and saw things that others missed.  She herself was a beauty and will be dearly missed by all.

She leaves behind son Fred and wife Karen, daughter Carole, daughter Ingrid and husband Joe, and son Mark and wife Ramona. Grandchildren include Michael, Stephen, Christina, and Carolyne, and Sabrina, and a niece and nearly a dozen nephews who still live in the Netherlands.

She loved her last ten years of life in Alaska, living in her cozy home overlooking the lights of Anchorage with views of Denali in the distance. Now it's time for her final journey back to California to the sunshine and warmth where she will be buried in a private family ceremony with her beloved Frits at Mount Hope Cemetery in Morgan Hill, California.

She would want the family and her friends to remember her with gardens, flowers, music, art and stories.