Zelma Wurdeman, 90; Longtime Palisadian

Zelma Wurdeman, a longtime Palisades resident, passed away in the St. John’s Hospital critical care unit in Santa Monica on May 5. She was 90. A voracious reader and expert gardener, Wurdeman had remained very active in senior activities at the Casa Gateway complex (Sunset and Palisades Drive) and in P.E.O. until she was hospitalized in late March. Born on July 7, 1913, Zel was raised in the Iron Range mining town of Virginia, Minnesota. The second eldest of five children, she grew up quickly helping her mother Jenny Armstrong Main run the household after her father, a timber man, died. She became an excellent cook and baker, specializing in the wonderful cookies she always enjoyed making for friends and family. At 18, she met and married Arthur Wurdeman, and they moved to Los Angeles soon after the birth of their first daughter, Phyllis Ann. The Wurdemans eventually moved to Brentwood and became acquainted with many prominent associates of Art’s brother Walter, during the era in which the architectural firm of Wurdeman and Becket (subsequently renamed Welton Becket Associates after Walt’s premature demise) designed numerous buildings in Los Angeles, including deco landmarks such as the Pan Pacific Auditorium. The family moved to the Palisades in the late 1940s after Art opened the Palisades Paint Company near the present location of the Palisadian-Post. Palisades Paint remained a fixture in the community for nearly 30 years. The Wurdemans lived first on Miami Way, and later on Albright overlooking Temescal Canyon. Palisades Paint Company closed after the family briefly moved to Florida in 1963. On their return to the Palisades, Art opened another store, Marquez Paints, and the family lived first on Bollinger and later on Las Lomas. Zel moved to Casa Gateway a few years after Art’s demise, residing there happily for 13 years with many friends and her dear calico cat, Abby. In addition to her husband, Wurdeman was predeceased by her daughter, Phyllis Ann Pettit, who succumbed to cancer in 1974. She is survived by her daughters, Ann Muenter (husband Steve) of Van Nuys and Jan Miles (husband Jim) of Tustin; her son, John Wurdeman (wife Pat) of Newbury Park; her grandchildren, Ben and Timothy Pettit of Santa Barbara; and her younger siblings, Ruth Handberg and Ford Main of Duluth, Minnesota, and Jay Main of Whitewater, Wisconsin.