Charlotte Tjiong Phan's Obituary
With profound sadness, we announce the passing of Charlotte, our loving and devoted wife, mother and friend to all whose lives whose lives she touched, on December 5, 2023.
She left us while sleeping peacefully at her home in West Linn, Oregon, after a few weeks of hospice care. She was 80 years old.
Born in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 3, 1943 to Djie Gik Tong and Tjoa Peni Nio, she was the oldest of three siblings. She loved dogs, and had one named Lassi whom she adored. Around the age of 10, she started to take piano lesson taught by her aunt and from there, her passion for music blossomed. Her father also then purchased a collection of light classical vinyls for her enjoyment. Living at home which was surrounded by many cousins from her mother’s side, she had an abundant of fond memories which included going to the movie theaters, eating out at street food vendors, riding bikes around the neighborhood and swimming in the local pool many a weekday. Her favorite food after swimming was gado-gado ulek, which she still craved until her passing.
When she was in high school, she was introduced to Wesley Phan by her cousin. They developed their love of food because Charlotte’s mother and father would seek out tasty dishes around town and they were always included. They would find the best place to eat pork satay and even by going out of town to Cibinong to eat laksa ayam, pepesan and ayam goreng. Benjamin was born in 1965 and later on Eliza, in 1971. The children continued to have the same passion for food that was instilled by their parents until now.
Married in her parent’s house in May 17, 1964 in Jakarta, Charlotte and Wesley had a beautiful three-day wedding feast attended by lots of relatives and friends. Once they were married, they enjoyed trips around Java island by car, foreign trips to many Asian countries and then later on to the US. They lived for 26 years in Jakarta before they immigrated to the US in 1990. They settled in Grand Terrace, California, where they made home for over 20 years. They then resumed their love of traveling by going to different states whenever time allowed. On one memorable trip to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Charlotte went down 700 feet by foot even though she was not an adventurous person.
Charlotte lived a full life as a wonderful mother, home maker and lunch lady in a local elementary school in California. She loved her role as a lunch lady because meeting young children made her happy and felt young all the time. Her involvement in Christ The Redeemer Catholic Church in Grand Terrace and later in Catholic Indonesian Community in Oregon was very fulfilling for her as she was often asked to cook Indonesian food for many events in both churches. Charlotte had never cooked before she got married and yet she was a quick learner and knew how to make tasty dishes by self-taught. She even had her catering business for many years in California and people often requested her specialities which included rendang, sayur asem, lumpia,es cendol, roti bakso and kue pia durian.
Charlotte also enjoyed keeping roses and tulips in her garden, doing picture puzzles and listening to classic country/bluegrass/50’s and 60’s music. She and Wesley used to go to bluegrass festival all over Southern California once they were empty nesters.
She leaves behind a legacy woven with dedication, love and a commitment to excellence in all facets of life. She will be dearly missed and forever in our hearts. She was survived by her husband, Wesley, son Benjamin Pandey(Lisa Gunawan), daughter Eliza (Sani) Adam, grandson Nathaniel Adam, and granddaughter Maria Samantha Olivia Pandey. She was also survived by her sister Olly Rantiatmodjo, brother Jongkie Rantiatmodjo (Presilla Hing), and niece Joice Amanda Rantiatmodjo; all of Jakarta, Indonesia.
A funeral mass will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 16 at the chapel of Holman-Hankins-Bowker & Waud funeral home in Oregon City. A light refreshment will follow after the service.
As an expression of sympathy, monetary donations may be given to KKIOR.
The link to the service recording is below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/fg_zKXqfIVHk5ZpYXFxXNk_EjfQbH5gTqC25ie44gLVeJtSmpM7-tnHNYCh73AVP.11R0LdA84jJmqxh4
Passcode: m!DK!61u
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