Tek Ban Philippus (Phil) Tjia, 87 (born December 28, 1930) of Cerritos, California, beloved husband of Olga Tjia, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, September 13, 2018. He was born in Padang, Sumatra of two Europeanen Gelijkgesteld Chinese (Chinese with European status) parents, the late Soen Yong Tjia of Manado, North Celebes, a Chinese rights advocate, journalist and publisher educated in Australia and Siem Nio Lie of Padang, Sumatra, who was said to be the daughter of a Sumatran princess and a Chinese man. He was the youngest of 4 brothers and 4 sisters in a Protestant family, and was raised by his older sister Marie (Ming) Tjia who left Hogere Burgerschool (HBS) to work as a secretary to support the family after the untimely death of their father when Flip was 5 years old. He was raised in Jakarta and known for his willingness to challenge the rules and to get into a fight. He was proud to report that he flunked out of Chinese school as a child, and equally proud to report that he used the family living room to practice motorcycle repair. He completed technical school at the age of 16 and worked as a radio technician and an auto and motorcycle mechanic. He was probably one of the earliest Chinese-Indonesian immigrants to settle in the United States without an advanced degree. He arrived in New York in 1961 at the age of 30, after being sent away from Indonesia 4 years earlier, by his sister, to force him to become self-supporting. In the Netherlands, he worked a series of jobs as a mechanic, including stints at Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen and KLM at Schipol. He eventually became a merchant marine ship engineer after receiving a ship mechanical technician diploma from night school. He joined the wave of Indo (European-Indonesian) refugees emigrating to the U.S. following the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949), and immediately started using his U.S. residence status to help many others leave strife-torn Indonesia for the U.S. He quickly found his way to sunny Southern California after one cold winter in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and eventually landed at General Telephone Company in 1963 where he would stay until the 1990s. He ended his career as a real estate agent. He spent much of this time since the late 1980s as an active member of New Life Community Church and its Indonesian Ministry, and served as the first President of the Indonesian Onesimus Ministry from 1990-1991. Phil is remembered by his friends for loving old Dutch music, dancing, having a sweet tooth, and for making friends and family laugh. He is also remembered for his love of driving and fixing cars. Among his daughter's favorite memories are his buying and selling vintage used cars. Phil loved his family, but particularly his wife of 52 years Olga Anthonijsz Tjia, who he was finally able to marry in 1966 despite having to wait 9 years after leaving Indonesia. She never left his side and was with him when he passed away from the complications of dementia-related Parkinson's disease. He is survived by his wife, Olga Tjia of Cerritos, CA, his daughter, Jennifer Tjia, MD, MSCE of Newton, MA and his granddaughter, Jamie Kai Givens Tjia (aka Nijntje to her Oma and Opa) of Newton, MA.
