One year ago: Elin Brekke Vanderlip

Elin Brekke Vanderlip, a member of the Norwegian family that once owned most of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, died one year ago.

Vanderlip founded Friends of French Art, a Los Angeles group that raised money to restore cultural treasures across France.

"What we really do is shame the French into helping preserve their own patrimony," Vanderlip told The Times in 1996. "When they see what we can do wiht a little money, they invariably pick up the ball."

She also help set aside land that became Nansen Field, a park in Rolling Hills Estates.

Read the complete obituary of Elin Brekke Vanderlip that appeared in The Times.

-- Claire Noland