Catatan ini adalah untuk mengingat kembali kehidupan ayah saya dan untuk menghargai cintanya dan perhatiannya. Saya selalu ingat bahwa dia adalah pria yang memiliki banyak motivasi positif dan setia mendukung keluarganya.

Dia tumbuh dalam keluarga yang hancur ketika ayahnya (kakek saya) tinggal terpisah dengan ibunya (nenek saya). Ibunya sebagai orang tua tunggal bekerja sangat keras untuk mendukung dan mengasuh 7 anaknya. Ayah saya adalah anak ketiga dari keluarga Widjaja. Dia memiliki 4 saudara perempuan dan 2 saudara laki-laki.

Kami semua merasa sangat sedih dan kehilangan orang yang berharga di keluarga kami. Meskipun kita memiliki waktu yang sulit, namun kedamaian Allah dilepaskan dan menghibur kita dengan setia. Terima kasih kepada semua kerabat, teman, dan orang-orang yang membantu kami selama layanan pemakamannya.

Thank you

Dody Kurniawan Widjaja is my father’s name. He is a dedicated father and a hard working- discipline person who always cares of his family. He was also known as Oeij Tjoen Hin.

My father was born into poverty in a small village, Tjimalaya, West Java and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia.

He grew up in broken family as his father (my grandfather) lived separately with his mother (my grandmother).His mom as a single parent worked really hard to support and to nurture her 7 children. My father is the third child of Widjaja family. He has 4 sisters and 2 brothers.

Due to a big family and poverty, he decided to stay with his relatives. He moved at different places. Early on in his life, his mother wanted him to pursue an education. Nonetheless, he dropped his school and started to work at young age. Despite a lot of hardships he went through, my father kept in a positive attitude.

In 1960, he worked with his uncle who was a successful business man in Jakarta but my father did not get any payments for his work. His uncle thought that supplying meals and lodging were the same cost as paying his work. My father worked there for awhile.

My father had ever been jailed for days as he helped his uncle’s dog that was being assaulted violently by a young man. The young man was a son of a general officer. It caused a big problem to my father. Thus, he was brought in to jail. His mother was the only person who secured my father with a help from a kindhearted lieutenant officer.

A few years later, my father left from Jakarta to make a living at different places. He managed to work with fisherman and then worked with a seafood trader. He traveled farther from his hometown. Even though he was far away from his mother and his siblings, my father still interacted and supported them financially and spiritually. His financial support had a big impact on his family to survive. His career began to be more successful when he worked as a product supplier at frozen seafood company. His experience became more valuable and he decided to pursue a new job with higher position. It became a reality on his life. He was recruited to be the first person who worked as procurement manager to establish a frozen snail and shrimp company in West Java. He managed his time to travel at different places to buy shrimps and snails in high quality and quantity. As far as I remembered, he told me that his employer was the first Indonesian company that exported frozen snail products from Indonesia to French. He became a successful buyer and His job led him to migrate to Surabaya, East java.

At 27, my father married Tan Po Ing, 24 who is our mother. The very bright and easygoing Tan was a perfect match for my father. They have 4 children. Their first daughter, Vivi was born in 1975. Their first son, Yopy, was born in 1977, Yog the third son in 1979 and Ivan timotius, the fourth son in 1984.

In 1984, his job did not survive. He lost his career and the company in Surabaya where he established filed a bankruptcy. Financial problems appeared to be turmoil in family. My father kept calm and thought positively to find a way to survive. Eventually,

He worked with one of my mother’s cousin in Surabaya. He worked at rental movies and his working schedule was not normal hours. Financial problem forged my mother to work at home. She did catering and baking to have additional income.

My father pursued a new job at frozen fish company in 1991. In 1994, he got a new job that manufactured dry anchovies in a small village in Tuban, East Java. It took ~ 8 hours to commute from Tuban to Surabaya. He decided to come home once in 3-4 weeks.

He regularly called us while he was living in a distance. He reminded us to finish our school and to obtain higher education. He also encouraged his children to pray and believe in Lord Jesus. Else, he stated he would not have a lot of assets that could be inherited to us. The best asset that he could give to us was to pay our education fees. Thus, he motivated us to go school and to achieve our career through education. When he was working in Tuban, he lost his family time and we also missed his valuable time as a father in our home.

My father resigned from his job in late 2000. As he cared of his family, he decided to send his first daughter abroad. He believed there is a bright future for his children. Thus, he sent all of his children to study abroad. Since then, he retired and lived with my mom in Surabaya.

My father had COPD and it got worse in late 2018. My mother was the only person who was faithfully taking care of him and accompanied him in every minute. My father died on January 07, 2019 at RKZ hospital, Surabaya.

All of us felt so sad and lost a valuable person in our family. Though we have difficult time, yet the peace of God is released and comforts us faithfully. Thank you to all relatives, friends and people who helped us during his funeral services.

Thank you for your love, care and support Papa. Rest in peace.

https://www.facebook.com/dody.kurniawan.1865904

I learned from his life experience how the reality of the prayer and Christian faith become to be real in my life.

Besides, my father has always been supportive, and taught me to learn how important the family values and success.

My father has proved himself and showed me that he is a dedicated father. His help and encouragement have formed me as the person today.

Thank you for your love, care and support Papa. Rest in peace.

https://www.facebook.com/dody.kurniawan.1865904