Gartini Isa Griffin, Raden Adjung Gartini Soeriadanoeningrat, passed away peacefully on January 6, 2018, with her Indonesian and American families nearby. She was born May 14, 1946, at Sumedang in West Java, Indonesia. “Tini” as she was affectionately known here, spent most of her childhood in Bandung, West Java, where her father was a government official. She initially learned her English in Hong Kong, where her father Gandi had a diplomatic posting. Ultimately, she received her B.A. in English from Jakarta’s Universitat Christin Indonesia.
Tini devoted her professional life to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she specialized in aiding those who suffered from political or religious persecution. As a result of that work and her three decades of work for USAID at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, she came to the U.S. and became a citizen in 2014. She was honored as one of the first two recipients of USAID’s prestigious John Withers Human Rights Award in 2009 awarded to an individual who: through sustained effort promoted human rights through actions that included: an unwavering professional or personal commitment to universal human rights, pursuit of objectives related to the protection of minorities; acts of courage or extraordinary effort in difficult, demanding, dangerous, or hardship situations; integrity, intellectual and moral courage, and commitment. In Indonesia, she “helped to nurture a new generation of leaders willing to stand up for human rights.
Tini fulfilled the second portion of her dream when she came to the U.S. in 2008, becoming a citizen in Concord, NH, on January 20, 2014. After relocating to the U.S., she assisted Amnesty International and other NGO organizations in the Washington, D.C. area in their support of human rights and civil society, as well as volunteering as an English-Indonesian and English-Japanese translator. After moving to the Mt. Washington Valley, she continued her volunteer efforts on behalf of human rights, as well as contributing to our local community by volunteering at the Jackson Public Library, and her membership in the Jackson Women’s Sewing Society and her faith community. She enjoyed being a special member of the staff at the Inn at Ellis River, where her warm smile and friendly personality were treasured by many guests.
Tini’s greatest legacy is not only her lifelong contributions to human rights, but the many friendships she treasured, whether those of her childhood in Indonesia, her many years working on behalf of the United States Government, or the many residents of our Valley she befriended. She pursued her dreams with passion, while touching hearts and minds throughout the world.
Those she touched most closely include her husband Albert J. Griffin, Jr. of Glen, NH and his sisters Mary, Kathleen, Helen and Julia as well as her Indonesian family, including daughter Saraswati Isa and her husband Edward Aditya, her son Indra Asikin Isa and his wife Maria Melissa Riyani Putri, her grandchildren Gabriel Sasha Mahoni Isa and Isabel Gwendolyn Aditya, sister Ratna Gilang Kantjana, and those friends she called her ‘American Family’, notably her best friend Christine Baumann, Walt Zywiak, Bill Prushinski, Dana Belcher, Paul Schuepp, and Edith Houlihan. She was predeceased by her parents, her first husband, Mukti Isa, and two brothers Gardiwa Soeria Danoe Ningrat, and Gunawan Soeria Danoe Ningrat. Her family thanks Dr. Matthew Dugan and his staff of the N.E. Cancer Center in Scarborough ME who did all in their power to help Tini overcome the lung cancer that eventually took her. Thanks also to those at the Bryant Funeral Home in Berlin, especially David, who handled her cremation with competence and compassion.
A celebration of her life will be scheduled later in the spring at the Jackson Library where she volunteered, in a building that she loved because it contained books, which were her passion. Details will be forthcoming.
Arrangements were entrusted to the care of the Bryant Funeral Homes, Berlin & Gorham, NH. Messages of condolence may be left online at www.bryantfuneralhome.net.