Gertrude "Trudy" Carroll

Gertrude “Trudy” Carroll Obituary

Gertrude “Trudy” Carroll, age 93, of Cypress, California, passed away peacefully on March 5, 2023, surrounded by family. Trudy was born on December 29, 1929, in Den Hague, Netherlands, the daughter of Anton and Catherine Van de Wetering and the oldest of eight children. Trudy was preceded in death by her late husband Bill (2019), her parents and younger siblings Pete, Ted, Martha, Joe, and Elly.

As a young girl, Trudy attended primary school in her hometown of Honselersdijk and later attended boarding school with her sister Martha. She was proud of the fact that her dad was forward-thinking and put her into schooling for longer than most of the other girls at that time. She embraced the opportunity of an advanced education. As a teenager, she survived the Nazi occupation of Holland which began in May 1940 and lasted unit 1945 when the country was liberated by Allied forces. She told incredible stories of her experiences during the war. She recounted in great detail the accounts of Nazi soldiers searching their home for enemies of the German Reich, and on at least one occasion, hid in bushes from Nazi soldiers. She recalls relatives who hid Jewish families under their houses or in their attics. She would also describe how at night they would hear Allied bombers flying over her neighborhood on bombing raids to Germany.

As World War II came to a close, having lost much and facing the uncertainty of the economic climate in post war Europe, her parents decided they would find a better life for the family. They eventually decided on New York and, in 1951, the family began their two-year journey to America. Trudy and her brother Pete were the trailblazers to start the family journey to America, sailing on the SS Ryndam Immigration ship to New York. Over the course of the next two years, the remaining family continued their slow emigration, sometimes one or two at a time, so that by 1952, they were all re-united and settled in Jamaica Queens, New York.

In the mid-1950s, Trudy began her working career at Holland America Line in Manhattan. At Holland America, she worked in the accounting department. Being bilingual was a huge advantage for her and she was hired on the spot at her interview. In 1956, Trudy was introduced to Bill and they were married on February 2, 1957, in New York, eventually moving to Long Island. Trudy worked at Holland America until 1957 when Kathy was born; Trudy and Bill would go on to have four more children: Margee, Bill Jr., Cliff and Linda.

As a family they enjoyed sailing the Long Island Sound, and family ice skating adventures on St. John’s Pond alongside the Fish Hatchery in Syosset. Trudy made sure her children became good swimmers on the Northport Yacht Club Swim Team. As well, her children learned to sail as her husband Bill needed crew members for his Lightning sailboat weekend races. Bill and Trudy eventually bought the kids their own 14-foot Blue Jay for racing, and later traded up to Summer Salt, a Pearson 30 which allowed for incredible summer family vacations around the Long Island Sound. Bill was transferred on a temporary sub-contract with Grumman Aerospace Long Island to Southern California in 1972. In 1973, Bill joined North American Rockwell in Downey which made the move permanent, and the majority of the family has remained in Orange County since.

Like most parents, Trudy spent countless hours year-round, driving her children to basketball, Little League baseball, ice skating, Boy Scouts, Brownies, Girl Scouts, dance and music lessons. As well as spending countless hours on Summer Salt, of which she had orchestrated the boat’s cross-country land journey in 1973. No matter the circumstances raising five children, she always got the job done!!

After getting her five children through school, Trudy went back to school studying accounting at Cypress College and earning her A.A. Degree. She eventually went to work as an accountant for Cypress Travel and then later with Duke’s Travel. She loved and thrived in the travel business so much that in 1984, she started her own travel agency – La Palma Travel. Trudy and Bill traveled the world for the next three decades throughout the United States and abroad, visiting Canada, Asia, South America, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean and an estimated 60 countries! Trudy retired from La Palma Travel in 2015. In her spare time, she loved to garden and maintain the family swimming pool. She was a multilinguist in Dutch, English, French, German and was an avid reader and gardener.

Trudy was an extremely generous person and could always be relied upon to throw a great party or put together a family trip, and to make sure that everyone had the best accommodations, food, drink, and activities planned. She loved to host her family, friends and most of all her grandkids at her pool and take them to Mothers' Beach and on visits to their boat Summer Salt and eventually Summer Salt II in Alamitos Bay. During summers, she’d take the grandkids for a week at a time to stay on the boat at Catalina Island. She taught the grandkids many card games and always found a way to let kids gamble in the cruise ship casinos on family trips. Family cruises were legendary, and often reached upwards of 50 people.

She loved her husband Bill and was a perfect street-smart compliment to his book smarts. She always gave Bill a big kiss when he came home from work; then they drank a Manhattan, a daily routine that lasted well into their later years. Trudy was an active member at St. Irenaeus Catholic Church in Cypress, St. Hedwig in Los Alamitos and St. Joseph’s in Long Beach. She lived a life of putting her family first, and she put herself second. Trudy was a beloved resident and neighbor of Cypress since 1973 until her passing and will be greatly missed by her family, friends and the community.

Trudy is survived by her children Kathy Orr (Steve) of Cypress, Margee Drews (Karl) of Newport Beach, Bill Carroll (Elena) of Rancho Mirage, Cliff Carroll of Denver, Colorado and Linda Brown (Steve) of Rogers, Arkansas; 13 grandchildren Carolyn Devon (Chris), Dan Orr (Kelly), Andrew Orr (Cindy), Kristin Gaudio (Mike), Michael Drews (Gabriela), Ryan Carroll, Nick Brown, Jack Brown, Chase Carroll, Angie Carroll, Megan Brown, Bryce Carroll and Ashley Carroll; and 5 great-grandchildren Evelyn Orr, Genevieve Orr, Iris Orr, Hadley Gaudio and Madelyn Devon. She is also survived by siblings Jack Van de Wetering (Alice) and Tina Allen (Harold) as well as countless nieces and nephews. She was also godmother to many of her nieces and nephews.