Gerda McMillan

GERDA MCMILLAN
July 16, 1924 ˜ June 12, 2023

The final chapter in the life of Gerda McMillan, longtime resident of Vancouver, WA, has been written. She crossed the threshold to her heavenly reward Monday, June 12, 2023, at Clearwater Springs Assisted Living in Vancouver. She was a month and four days short of her 99th birthday. Born Gertrud Velten in the village of Oberkassel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, she lived a long and fulfilling life. Her parents were Josef and Elisabeth (Lennartz) Velten. She met her husband, Paul McMillan, in Bonn, in 1945. He was a U.S. soldier, among those who made the final advance into Germany at the end of World War II. They were married in 1948, and returned to the States that same year. With an insatiable appetite for learning all about her new home, she quickly learned to speak English and became a naturalized citizen. She said there were no people in the world more caring than Americans.

Gerda is survived by her son Paul Jr. and his wife Pamela (Monti); granddaughter Valisha and her husband Michael Nash; and the light of Gerda’s life, great-granddaughter, Joyce Nash. She was predeceased by her husband Paul in 2007; and by her sister, Christel, in Germany, in 2011.

No matter what adversities she faced, Gerda was always able to see beauty all around her, and her great sense of humor served her well. She loved children and music and dancing and, though she loved to shop, she would rather go without than buy anything of low quality.

Gerda will be missed by all who knew her, including Vickie Smith of Touchmark, the staff of Clearwater Springs Assisted Living, and those with Providence Hospice, who have earned the eternal gratitude of the family for the loving care they gave her.

A graveside service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, June 21, 2023, at Willamette National Cemetery, 11800 SE Mt. Scott Blvd., Happy Valley, OR 97086.
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