Gerarda VanWaalwijk

Gerarda VanWaalwijk (nee DeVries), age 96, of Manahawkin, NJ passed away on Saturday, April 20, 2024 at her home.

Born April 22, 1927 in Haarlem, the Netherlands, she lived in Yonkers, NY, Bronx, NY and Matawan, NJ prior to Manahawkin. She was a member of the Ocean Community Church in Manahawkin, NJ.

Gerarda was a truly wonderful person. She embodied what it meant to serve others. Her unyielding faith helped to open doors to our better selves in every interaction. She was loved by so many, touching lives in the smallest and biggest ways. She valued wisdom over knowledge and caring over competence. She focused on who you were at your core, not by how you appear. She prolifically volunteered every chance she had. She lived by words that she had by her bedside for over 50 years; “Service is the price you pay for the space we occupy on this planet”. She was certainly a living example of a simple life that transformed so many lives through gentle words and actions. She was wonderful to her family and so many friends, acquaintances and even someone fortunate enough to just encounter her for a moment. We are all better for having had her in our lives and we will miss her dearly.

She was predeceased by her husband, Jacobus P. VanWaalwijk in 2009 and her many siblings.

She is survived by two daughters; Yvonne Samaha and Nora Fraumann, her three sons; John J. VanWaalwijk, Richard VanWaalwijk and Edward VanWaalwijk, her brother Henk DeVries, her nine grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren with her thirteenth great grandchild on the way, and her many extended family and friends.

Visitation will take place at Ocean Community Church, 1492 route 72, Manahawkin, NJ 08050 on Friday, April 26, 2024 from 10am until her funeral service beginning 11am. Interment will follow at Ocean County Memorial Park, Wells Mills Rd., Waretown, NJ.