Anna Marie Louise Jauw

​Remembering Anna “...and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart…” Acts 2:46

ANNA MARIE LOUISE VanHELDEN JAUW would like all of her family and friends to know that she has joined her Heavenly Father, where a feast of unrivaled proportions awaits her. This ‘Rijsttafel’ (Rice Table Feast), as it is called in her birth home of Indonesia, includes honored seats at the table for: her father and mother Gijsbert Jakob Van Helden and Emma Najoan Van Helden; her other ‘mother and father’ Lien Njio and Koei Hai Lie; her sister Elizabeth, aka Betty, brother Gijs; and especially, her grandson Jason Jauw. Also seated are her brothers and sisters-in-law, Noes, Wim, Rudy, Vera, Edwin, and Greta, along with her niece Willie, and nephews, Joey and Bert. All have been awaiting her arrival and know that she will be bringing their favorite Nasi Goreng (fried rice), that is also the loved-favorite of her families here on earth.

Here we shall begin to gather and assemble the feasts in her remembrance and honor…in the United States, Netherlands, Germany and, of course, Indonesia where she still has so many relatives and even more friends. ‘Rijstaffel’ is more and much deeper than a buffet or a potluck. Hundreds of dishes and side-dishes will be prepared in honor of her memory, to honor the ways and wants of all of the many ancestors of many cultures who went on before her, as well as those she would want welcomed to her table. Stories will be shared of Anna and those she feasts with beyond the veil…they shall live on forever, whenever we tell the tales, share the feasts, and raise a glass in their names.

We send special love and wish of ‘sterkte’ (enduring strength) to Anna’s sister and our Tante Marijke, who lived through the trevails with her ‘susje’, our mom, as well as the joys of so many rijsttafels, the blessings of so many children, and who was closer and knew her like no other among us. We also send our love to Anna’s sister-in-law, Tante Dieni and to Anna’s cousin whom we call Oma Christine - All our love, Tantes.

For those of us who called her ‘Ma’, these feasts will be lovingly given by her three children Jim (Kathy), Ted (Kate) and ‘Manda (Jeff), preparing the foods she not only loved but that also meant love itself to her…Ma loved to tell of ‘Spekkoek’ (the secret recipe of Oma and Opa Lie) -or- ‘Meta’s Vleesje’ made by Meta and then by Tante Noes -or- ‘Sajoer Lodeh’ made by Tante Greet -or- ‘Huzarensla’ made by Tante Vera - and on and on, as if each dish carried the spirit of the person she associated it with. In that way, we will make ‘Nasi Goreng’ because it was, like her, ever changing, pragmatic and was the very way she lived her life. She was always living in the moment, adapting to her ever changing reality and always savoring Life and whatever the pot (or wok) gave. We remember her singing ‘Geef Mij Maar Nasi Goreng’ (Just give me Fried Rice), which is the Indo National Anthem, especially for the ‘diaspora’ who, like the ‘Nasi Goreng,’ took what fate had given us and made it into something even better.

‘The Cousins’ who called her ‘Tante Weis’, Ruth, Rita, Peter, Frank, Ron, Monique, Paul, Alan and their spouses here in the States along with Roy, Brenda, Christien, Linda, Daphne, Muriel, Jolanda, Eugene and their spouses on the other side of the pond, will lead and feed their many children and friends in fetes all over the world. For the one they love and call ‘Tante Weis’ would want them to tell stories of each dish and remember her with all those who have gone before and with whom she feasts with now. She not only carried on their recipes but also so many of the myriad cultures that made our mixing-pot-families not just ‘Indonesians’ but ‘Indos’ and took the once hated epithet of ‘Orang Manis’ (mixed bloods) and made it like the wonderful ‘Ketjap Manis’ or ‘Sweet Soy Sauce’ that is the foundation of so many of our favourite dishes and that our beloved ‘Oma or Opa Lie’ would lovingly and patiently make for the family (competing recipes)...Because Food and Love are One.

We see it most in the sweetness of her grandchildren, Brian (Danielle), Ian, Joe, Emma, Ana (Nyx), Sophia, Gabe and Dominick and her great grandchildren Paxton, Colette, Robin and Viola, who will always remember their ‘Nana’ at the table and say her name as if it is Grace, and that the food they eat, the food that is now prepared by their parents, is how she showed them her love. Nana loved all the things that they ate and loved the people who they were and are still becoming…

For that is her way and how she wanted it to be.

And for all her friends who called her ‘Anna’, please know as you share your meals in remembrance of her and even though not many of you, her friends, may be able to make Paniki (bat),Tortuga (turtle), Rollade Palliling (eel), Gule Kambing (lamb) or Rudjak Ambon (her favorite mackerel salad), know that her guiltiest pleasure of all, and the thing that she treasured the most during the war and two revolutions, was a can of good old American SPAM. Peel open a can and fry it in her honor and eat it any way you want. If you really are missing her, make it into Fried Rice adding whatever vegetables, eggs, noodles, spices and leftovers make you happiest because that is what she would have made for you and, if she could be with you now, she would want to break bread with you with the gladness and the sincerity of heart that she lived her Life with.

Anna will be interred in a private ceremony with immediate family. We hope to have a memorial service in the future when we can travel and gather without fear or restrictions. You will find notices of her Remembrances here and her social media. In lieu of flowers, please donate your time, talent and treasure to a charity that helps feed and clothe people in your own backyard, as Anna did in her lifetime.