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 1940s. She was arguably not as athletic as her older sister Mary, who won the Women’s Division at the 1939 Pacific Coast Surfing Championship at Long Beach, but she could hold her own in the water and on the beach.
Mary (Kerwin) Reihl and Kerwin brothers John, Joe, Fred, Jim and Ted are Pioneer Members on the city’s Surfing Walk of Fame, located on the pier.
After World War II Emma met Ted Halibrand, an aircraft engineer for Douglas Aircraft Company who had a keen interest in race cars. Emma and Ted Halibrand were married in 1946 and Ted went into business for himself designing and manufacturing racing car parts in Culver City.
Halibrand Engineering Company moved to Torrance and is credited with design, development and manufacturing of the first “mag” racing wheels. At the Indianapolis 500, the winning car in every race from 1946 to 1965 had magnesium wheels, disc brakes, rear end assemblies or steering assemblies manufactured by Halibrand.
The couple moved to Westchester in 1953, had daughters Linda, Cheryl and Sandy, and hosted numerous Kerwins poolside in the 1960s and 1970s.
Emma continued regular summertime swims until the last couple of years of her life.
A memorial service will be 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 29 at Visitation Catholic Church, 6561 West 88th Street in Westchester. A celebration of her life will follow at Petrelli’s Steak House, 5615 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City. In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to the LARC Foundation for developmentally disabled adults at 29890 North Bouquet Canyon Road, Saugus, CA 91390. ER