Sietze Oebele Theunis Frankfort (78, b. April 8, 1941) passed away on September 15, 2019 in his Montclair, NJ home.  He is survived by his wife Elizabeth Seaton-Frankfort, his children Melati Frankfort, Willem Frankfort, Koren Frankfort, Chandra Sakajani (formerly Frankfort) and son-in-law Sendor Sakajani, as well as his grandchildren Kaleb LeMaire, Anais Sakajani and Saskia Sakajani.

Sietze was born the fifteenth child in Jogjakarta, Indonesia to Sawinah of the House of Solo in the Jogjakarta Sultanate and Oebele Theunis Frankfort, a high-ranking officer in the Dutch Military.  He was born at the precipice of war in Java at the onset of Japanese occupation in World War 2.  His father was killed by the Japanese, and in an act of defiance – designated as heroism in War by the Dutch Government – Sawinah hid downed pilots and refused the Japanese her daughters, Sietze’s sisters, as comfort women.  The family was eventually interned and brought from concentration camp to concentration camp.  Being of a tender age, Sietze stayed with the women family members in camps where his mother carried him on her back.  Having endured this, Sietze had a permanent sense of gratitude and respect for women which carried his entire life along with the scars and permanent affect to his health from tuberculosis.  Nevertheless, he endured.

After the war concluded, the family dispersed to Europe where Sietze then grew up out of necessity.  He learned to speak seven languages, developed as a martial artist/gymnast holding a black sash in Kung Fu and a mastery of Penjak Silat.  He was a formidable professional musician and a founder of the Indo-Rock movement as documented in Rocking Ramona and other historical texts.  Sietze prided himself on protecting the women singers and fans from predation.  He prided himself on equality of the women around him and refused to allow for mistreatment having seen what was endured in the camps.  To Sietze, “Good men do not drink beers with evil men,” something he told his daughters again and again.

After a while, the xenophobia and general accompanying disruptions led Sietze to need to again leave his home in Holland to go to the United States by ship – the third continent to which he was pushed.  There, Sietze put down roots in New Jersey where he met his first wife with whom he had two of his three beloved daughters, Melati and Chandra.  It was at this time Sietze began his career as a cherished father.

Sietze later remarried Elizabeth Seaton to whom he was married until his death for nearly 40 years.  With her, Sietze had Willem and Koren (Kori).  As a husband and father, he was a provider of food on the table, warmth, music, protection, kindness and valuable lessons – values in particular.

In his work life, Sietze made many sacrifices by conscious choice. He worked the graveyard shift as a postal supervisor for well over 30 years to provide food and stability to his family.  Nevertheless, he lovingly tolerated doll shoes in his bed while he slept and would trail his children to school to bring them breakfast after long graveyard shifts.  He found time to teach his children martial arts and singing lessons.  Sietze carried Indonesian traditions well into his family with Kumpulan gatherings, cherished family recipes like Spoekkoek, Satay, Soto Ayam, Pisang Goreng, Gado Gado, Lumpia, and sticky rice.

As a refugee, Sietze was able to find community in the cold face of isolation.  He made everyone love him with tales of rock and roll, pet monkeys throwing fruit at local children, defending women on the road and he did so in English, Dutch, French, German, Malay and Indonesian.  There was no lonely soul around Sietze.   No struggling young father.  No struggling or disrespected woman. Definitively, Sietze Frankfort was not just a great man, but he was a good man, one who leaves behind a legacy of doing the right thing, of love, of fighting for what is right and protecting that for which you care.

From such a deep well of gratitude and love, his family thanks him for the years of love and protection and being a Do Right Man.

Koren Frankfort is, first and foremost, the daughter of Sietze O.T. Frankfort, the first #metoo writer New Jersey has had and serves as the Finance Director of the New York State Democratic Senate Campaign Committee where she oversees the finances of 40 incumbent state senators, multiple campaigns and drives in the resources for the Senate Majority.  Moreover, she rails against concentration camps and sexual predation in honor of her father, her sisters and herself.