Gandasari Abdullah Win, 1934-2024
Ibu Riri: Center for Asian Studies
The Center for Asian Studies community is heartbroken to have recently lost a beloved member of the Center’s family. Gandasari Abdullah Win, dearly known as Ibu Riri, passed away on January 19, 2024, concluding a remarkable life of 89 years. Together with her husband, U Kyaw Win, Bu Riri was a regular and generous member of the Center’s and the broader Boulder area Indonesian studies community.
Bu Riri was born in 1934 in Batavia in what was then the Dutch East Indies. She was one of eight children and went on to live a life that paralleled the formation of Indonesia as an independent nation. Her father, Baginda Dahlan Abdullah, was an ardent activist for Indonesian independence, educated in Padang and later in Leiden. He was a classmate of Tan Malaka and friend of Mohammed Hatta, and is known as one of the key pahlawans or national heroes of Indonesia, a unifying country name for which he actively advocated. He died young and unexpectedly in 1950 in Baghdad beginning a term as Indonesia’s first ambassador to the Middle East.
Riri, then 15 years old, had accompanied her father to Baghdad and went on to live a life inspired by national and diplomatic service, rooted in her family’s commitment to education. Bu Riri ultimately became as cosmopolitan as her family yet remained proud of her Indonesian and Minangkabau origins. Her life mirrored the growth of Indonesia in the 20th century. She went on to earn two Masters Degrees, in International Affairs (Howard University) and Political Science (Claremont Graduate School), and a PhD in Political Science (Claremont, 1968). While in Washington DC, she met and in 1958 married her husband, fondly known in Boulder as Pak Win. Together they traveled, taught, and advocated for democratic rights. They lived in Burma for two years from 1959-61.
In 1999, following three decades of award-winning teaching in the Department of Political Science at Golden West College, in Huntington Beach, California, and global fellowships in Europe and Asia, Riri and Win retired to “Bukitinggi,” their elegant and expansive home in the foothills outside of Boulder, Colorado. They continued their busy lives there, hosting not only their two children and two beloved grandchildren, but much of the CU and area’s Indonesian community. Riri delighted in welcoming friends for Indonesian Independence Day celebrations each August, as well as hosting other community events for the Indonesian and Indonesian studies family in the area, including the occasional wedding. Her capacious kitchen, balcony, and the spectacular view of the mountains were only rivaled by her open, creative, and affectionate embrace of the Colorado Indonesian community. In addition to hosting, she regularly attended Indonesian meals organized by the Center for Asian Studies and supported the Center’s new educational exchange with Gadjah Mada University. Many of her extended CU family members bid her a loving farewell at her memorial service on January 24 in Boulder, where she was honored by the reading of ayat Quran 20:55: “From this earth, we created you, and to it we will return you, from it we will raise you once again.”
The Center for Asian Studies will deeply miss Bu Riri and will continue to honor her memory. We are fortunate that Win, their daughter Dewi Win, and Win’s husband Brad remain active and valued members of the Center’s community.
Her full obituary can be found here.