Dance hall owner in ‘50s, ‘60s dies at 92

He owned one of Balboa’s favorite dance halls and introduced a generation of wave-riders to surf rock.

For nearly a decade, Ernest Neufeld operated the Rendezvous Ballroom, a peninsula performance hall that showcased Bobby Hatfield and Dick Dale and the Del Tones before burning to the ground in 1966.

Neufeld died Saturday of natural causes. He was 92.

In 1947, Neufeld took over ownership of the ballroom between Washington and Palm streets after several vacations to the area.

“Originally we were just hoping to make a good investment,” his wife, Thelma Neufeld, said.

For years after they bought it, the ballroom sat empty. The previous owner had booked brass bands and Big Band music at the facility, but the popularity of the genre eventually waned, and the pair looked for a new sound for Rendezvous.

“The ballroom had gone through all types of changes and the kids just didn’t want to listen to Nat King Cole any- more,” Thelma Neufeld said.

In 1955, the Neufelds reopened the ballroom under the management of John Clark, who booked surf-rock legends like Dick Dale and the Righteous Brothers. Although the music was often rebellious, the participants were expected to be respectful. Women were required to wear skirts to their knees, and men had to wear sport jackets. Rowdy behavior was never allowed, and alcohol was strictly forbidden.

After a decade of operation, the ballroom burned down in 1966. After several years in transition, the site was eventually sold to residential developers who converted the space into condominiums.

Neufeld was born in Escondido to German Mennonites who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia. He would later become an influential farmer in Wasco, Calif. ? a rural town in the San Joaquin Valley ? and invest in real estate along Newport Coast.

He was married in 1941 and spent the first years of his marriage serving in the Army in World War II as a medic. His daughter Judith was born the day he shipped off for the European theater, and he did not see her until she was 27 months old.

Neufeld spent the last years of his life retired on his Wasco farm and traveling through Europe and Brazil. He is survived by his wife, Thelma; his daughters, Judith and Diane; his son, Robert; and three grandchildren.