Hilda Margretha Engelman

In Memory of Hilda M. Engelman
Hilda M. Engelman, 92, of Torrance, died peacefully on Tuesday, July 2nd, surrounded by her loving family.
Called ‘Oma’ by everyone who knew her, Hilda was born in Banjermasin on the island of Borneo in Indonesia, and was the youngest daughter and the sixth of seven children born to Charles and Christina Vakkers. Hilda and her parents relocated to the Netherlands following WWII where she met and married Johannes (John) Engelman in 1956. In 1960 John and Hilda immigrated to the United States with their two children; son, Roelof, who was three years old, and their newborn daughter, Karin. Three years later they welcomed their last child, their ‘American’ daughter, Jennifer. John & Hilda became naturalized citizens in 1984.
Everyone who ever met Oma enjoyed her big heart, her warm and wonderful smile and her infectious laugh. She was a joyous and generous person and was always laughing and smiling. She had a sweet singing voice and loved music, especially Hawaiian music and Elvis. She met her beloved husband while she was a singer in a Hawaiian band in Rotterdam. Hilda was passionate about Zumba, playing slot machines in Las Vegas, her Dutch cijfercode & search-a-word puzzle books and she loved her ipad. She also loved throwing parties and drew special joy from celebrating holidays with her family. By far her passion was her family and they were always together. They enjoyed vacationing together and traveled back to the Netherlands to visit friends and family nearly every year. The family has wonderful memories of annual vacations traveling and cruising the world together.
Her kind heart will forever be in the hearts of those who knew and loved her. She will be greatly missed.
Hilda was preceded in death by her beloved husband, John, and her son Roelof (Wanda). Hilda is survived by her daughters Karin, Jennifer (Alfred), her daughter-in-law Wanda; as well as grandchildren: Jason, Anneke, Rhianna, Emily, Sarah, J.J. and Olivia. She also has 4 great-grandchildren. Spoiling her children and grandchildren was something that Hilda loved more than anything else.
The family would like to thank all of Oma’s friends for their kindness.
Services will be held Saturday August 3rd at 2:00 pm at Green Hills Chapel, 27501 Western Ave, Rancho Palos Verdes.