Member of pioneering family was 94
Emma, Ellen and Jim Kerwin sit in a lifeguard dory on the beach in front of the former Biltmore Hotel, near its completion in 1926. by Scott Kerwin Emma (Kerwin) Halibrand, born at the family home on what is now the Pier Plaza, passed away on Jan. 7 at the age of 94. She was born Sept. 30, 1916, the middle of nine Kerwin children born at the family home. The former Kerwin Bakery building still stands at 35 and 37 Pier Ave., and the family home has been converted to second-story offices above the Bonaparte Café and the former site of Il Boccacio restaurant. She attended local schools, including Ocean View, which was located at the top of the sand dunes near the present location of St. Cross-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church on Monterey Boulevard. Her grandfather John Hiss constructed Ocean View School in 1904. She graduated from Redondo Union High School in 1934 and worked as a hairdresser in Hermosa for many years. Emma and two of her brothers continued living in the family home after their parents retired in 1934 and moved to Anaheim, to live amongst the orange groves that covered most of the city at the time. Emma was a member of the Hermosa Beach Surfing Club in the 1930s and early…
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