Riek Rohrbaugh's Obituary
Riek Hermine Adrienne Rohrbaugh closed her eyes on earth and opened them in heaven on April 3, 2026. She was born in Solo, Java, Indonesia on December 8, 1934 to John Clement Roeland Landouw and Hendrika Elizabeth Cornelia Landouw-Raat. She is preceded in death by her parents and much-loved sister Justine Frazier. Riek is survived by the love of her life and husband of 61 years Richard Rohrbaugh. She was mom to three children Helen Grutas (Gerwen), John Rohrbaugh (Lisa), and Marie Bok (Michael). She was Oma to six grandchildren Richard, Noli, Eion, Maggie, Seth, and Theo, and four great-grandchildren, Alayna, Ezra, Hosea and “Little Bear”, due in June.
Riek lived through World War II in Indonesia, then moved with her mother, sister and three aunts to Bloemendaal in The Netherlands where she graduated from high school. She traveled all over The Netherlands with her mother and danced through Paris with her sister before coming to the United States. She met and married Richard in Washington DC in March 1965. They moved to several Air Force bases before settling in Lakewood, WA in 1974. She loved meeting new people all her life, and made sure she invited them to church so that they could find the love and hope she found in Jesus. When they couldn’t get to church themselves, she would go get them in the family station wagon. When anyone needed anything, she was there with whatever she could scrape together and the first one to pray for anything and everyone.
She held many jobs during her life, but her favorites were working for an insurance company, being a stay-at-home mom, and a nanny to two kids whom she loved like they were her own grandchildren. When she wasn’t volunteering at church or at work, she couldn’t sit still. She loved being outside taking care of her flowers (“playing in the dirt”), driving to Steilacoom beach or driving “up the mountain” to Mount Rainier. She took every opportunity to love on her grandkids, watching them perform or play sports, taking them to “put their feet in the water” at the beach, and playing games on the floor with them. She always had a smile and a laugh and when she couldn’t keep up with a fast-paced conversation, she would love to listen to all of us telling stories and joking. At the end of the night, she couldn’t go to sleep without her sweetheart Richard and a nighttime prayer thanking Jesus for all He had done.
She will be missed on earth, but she is home, dancing with Jesus in heaven and feeling no more pain.
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