BERTHA YORBA PIZZO KLEMANN, FUHS 1933
Klemann, Bertha Agnes (Yorba/Pizzo), passed away May 3, 2007 in Anaheim at the age of 93. She was born on February 18, 1914 in her parent's home on Esperanza Road in Anaheim. Bertha is fifth generation Californian and a direct descendant of Jose Antonio Yorba, one of the oldest family names in California. She was the third of nine children born to Ernesto Tomas Yorba and Dolores "Lolita" Ruiz. The Yorba children; Berta, Ernesto, Bertha, David, Orlando, Herbert, Doraldina, Juanita, and Rudolph, grew up in beautiful Santa Ana Canyon close to their cousins and friends. She attended Yorba Elementary and graduated in the class of 1933 from Fullerton Union High School. She lived her whole life in the Orange County. Through years she watched the land she grew up on change from ranches to housing tracts. Still, on a good day, she could sit in Yorba Regional Park, smell eucalyptus and be transported back to another time when the weekends brought the whole family together to share a meal, old stories and play baseball. Bertha Yorba married Antonio Pizzo. They had two children, Lucy Mary (Pizzo) Hernandez and Ernest John Pizzo. They were farmers and lived a wonderfully simple and happy life. Tony passed away in 1955. Bertha was strong and continued on to raise her children. She found love again when she met and married Michael F. Klemann. They loved to travel and take care of thier grandchildren. Michael died in 1979. The rest of Bertha's life was doting on her grandchildren and great grandchildren and singing in the senior citizen choral group. Bertha Agnes S. Yorba Pizzo Klemann is survived by her siblings, Doraldina, Herbert, Juanita, her two children Lucy (Al) Hernandez and Ernest (Cornelia) Pizzo, her 7 grandchildren Jackie, Tony, Robbie, Suzie, Juan, John, Jessica, and 11 great grandchildren. Visitation will be held Mon., 5/7/07, 4 to 8 p.m. with a vigil service at 7 p.m. at Hilgenfelds, Anaheim. The mass will be held at Saint Anthony Claret, Anaheim on Tues. 5/8/07 at 10 a.m. with burial immediately after at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Orange.Hilgenfeld Mortuary
Published in the Orange County Register on 5/5/2007.
Guest Book
Friday, May 11, 2007
She spent her 93 years in Orange County
By ROBIN HINCH
The Orange County Register
It didn't occur to Bertha Klemann to leave her native Orange County.
Her daughter moved to Texas, to Mexico City, even to Spain. Bertha happily went to visit her, but didn't give a thought to moving.
A member of the Yorba family that was among the first settlers of the county, Bertha was happy to stay right where she had grown up.
The third of nine children, Bertha was born to Ernesto Tomas Yorba and Dolores "Lolita" Ruiz at home on an orange ranch in what was then known as Esperanza in Santa Ana Canyon – an area now part of the city of Anaheim. She took pride in being a fifth-generation Californian.
A horse and buggy took her the three miles to Yorba Elementary School, which went through eighth grade. She then graduated from Fullerton Union High School in 1933, an accomplishment of which she was fiercely proud.
Soon after high school Bertha married Antonio "Tony" Pizzo, a farmer. They lived a quiet, simple life rearing their two children and tending their orange trees and their chickens. Tony made wine, and Bertha took up sewing, embroidery and crocheting.
From Anaheim they moved to Yorba Linda, then to La Habra, always living on farmland.
On weekends, they went to her parents' ranch, the family gathering spot, where their children played baseball and swam in the irrigation ditch behind the house.
If her youngsters learned nothing else from their mother, Bertha wanted them to appreciate the value of family closeness. Those weekends filled with cousins, grandparents, uncles and aunts left an indelible impression on all the kids of the warmth, importance and rewards of spending time with relatives.
In 1955, Tony died, and two years later Bertha married Mike Klemann, a machinist, and moved to Brea where he lived and worked. When Mike died in 1977, she moved back to Anaheim.
She was a quiet woman who watched philosophically, if a little sadly, the hills and farmlands of her youth become gradually paved over with high-density housing and bustling shopping centers.
Mostly, she didn't like the traffic.
But Bertha made few demands on life. Material things mattered little to her, although she did say that the washing machine was the best invention ever.
Until her daughter moved to Spain, Bertha expressed no desire to travel. A trip to her was a visit to the beach to hunt grunion, to a park or to the county fair.
When she had family abroad, however, she didn't hesitate to board a plane to Barcelona, Spain, or Mexico City to pay a visit. While in Spain, she insisted on going to the town of Jorba in the province of Cataluña, which, some say, is where the Yorba family originated.
She was proud of her heritage as a Yorba but wouldn't boast of it. She said she didn't need to talk it up because she was a Yorba. And she urged her children not to crow about their Yorba lineage in school when they studied local history.
"Just stand tall and be proud you are a Yorba and participate in family things," she told the grandkids who were hoping for extraordinary historical tidbits that would guarantee them A's on their school reports.
A tiny woman with vibrant blue-green eyes that twinkled when she smiled, she acknowledged that she hadn't had an exciting life. But she had no regrets.
She knew that her legacy was a loving family that will carry forward the Yorba heritage of which she was so proud.
Contact the writer: 714-796-6082 or rhinch@ocregister.com
She spent her 93 years in Orange County
By ROBIN HINCH
The Orange County Register
It didn't occur to Bertha Klemann to leave her native Orange County.
Her daughter moved to Texas, to Mexico City, even to Spain. Bertha happily went to visit her, but didn't give a thought to moving.
A member of the Yorba family that was among the first settlers of the county, Bertha was happy to stay right where she had grown up.
The third of nine children, Bertha was born to Ernesto Tomas Yorba and Dolores "Lolita" Ruiz at home on an orange ranch in what was then known as Esperanza in Santa Ana Canyon – an area now part of the city of Anaheim. She took pride in being a fifth-generation Californian.
A horse and buggy took her the three miles to Yorba Elementary School, which went through eighth grade. She then graduated from Fullerton Union High School in 1933, an accomplishment of which she was fiercely proud.
Soon after high school Bertha married Antonio "Tony" Pizzo, a farmer. They lived a quiet, simple life rearing their two children and tending their orange trees and their chickens. Tony made wine, and Bertha took up sewing, embroidery and crocheting.
From Anaheim they moved to Yorba Linda, then to La Habra, always living on farmland.
On weekends, they went to her parents' ranch, the family gathering spot, where their children played baseball and swam in the irrigation ditch behind the house.
If her youngsters learned nothing else from their mother, Bertha wanted them to appreciate the value of family closeness. Those weekends filled with cousins, grandparents, uncles and aunts left an indelible impression on all the kids of the warmth, importance and rewards of spending time with relatives.
In 1955, Tony died, and two years later Bertha married Mike Klemann, a machinist, and moved to Brea where he lived and worked. When Mike died in 1977, she moved back to Anaheim.
She was a quiet woman who watched philosophically, if a little sadly, the hills and farmlands of her youth become gradually paved over with high-density housing and bustling shopping centers.
Mostly, she didn't like the traffic.
But Bertha made few demands on life. Material things mattered little to her, although she did say that the washing machine was the best invention ever.
Until her daughter moved to Spain, Bertha expressed no desire to travel. A trip to her was a visit to the beach to hunt grunion, to a park or to the county fair.
When she had family abroad, however, she didn't hesitate to board a plane to Barcelona, Spain, or Mexico City to pay a visit. While in Spain, she insisted on going to the town of Jorba in the province of Cataluña, which, some say, is where the Yorba family originated.
She was proud of her heritage as a Yorba but wouldn't boast of it. She said she didn't need to talk it up because she was a Yorba. And she urged her children not to crow about their Yorba lineage in school when they studied local history.
"Just stand tall and be proud you are a Yorba and participate in family things," she told the grandkids who were hoping for extraordinary historical tidbits that would guarantee them A's on their school reports.
A tiny woman with vibrant blue-green eyes that twinkled when she smiled, she acknowledged that she hadn't had an exciting life. But she had no regrets.
She knew that her legacy was a loving family that will carry forward the Yorba heritage of which she was so proud.
Contact the writer: 714-796-6082 or rhinch@ocregister.com
posted by Connie @ 11:15 AM
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