Obituary

Helen Y. Gerding Helen Y. Gerding, age 96, of Santa Paula, passed away due to pneumonia on January 3, 2002 in Santa Paula.Mrs. Gerding was born July 1, 1905 in Fort Wayne, Indiana and was a 56-year Ventura County resident. She and her husband, Richard, were co-owners of Seeber’s Pharmacy in downtown Santa Paula prior to his death in 1971. She continued to work as a pharmacist until the age of 80.She graduated with a degree in pharmacy from the University of Michigan in 1927. While in Fort Wayne, Indiana, she worked for the first woman to graduate and own a pharmacy in the United States. Mrs. Gerding was one of the first women to graduate with a degree in pharmacy. She was a founding member of the Soroptimists and was named as “Distinguished Woman of the Year” in 1999.She is survived by her daughter, Sue Frances Ricards of Ventura; grandson, Joseph Allen Ricards of Santa Paula; sister-in-law, Louise McLeish of Fort Wayne, IN; and a half sister-in-law, Norma Gerding, also of Fort Wayne, IN.Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 10, with visitation beginning at 12 noon at Pierce Brothers Stetler Mortuary Chapel. Burial will follow at Pierce Brothers Santa Paula Cemetery.