Dorothea Johanna Steen

A special memorial website for Thea can be viewed at

http://dorothea-steen.virtual-memorials.com/

Family videos with Thea & Kees can be viewed at

https://viddler.com/channel/ewsteen

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Dorothea Johanna (Thea) Steen Dec 22,1917- Oct 6, 2007

Born in Den Haag, The Netherlands, 22 December 1917, her natural parents, Marie Gerard Mast and Dorothea Josephine Mast (Bormans) both died at a young age of Tuberculosis, and when Thea was only six years old.

She was then lovingly raised by her mother's sister Maria, who had only been married to Hendrik Kiefmeijer for less than two years. Uncle Hendrik and Aunt Maria adopted her and they became her parents by choice, and whom we loved as Oma and Opa Kiefmeijer.

Hendrik (Opa) Kiefmeijer was a highly gifted man. A wonderful painter, magician and respected stage props designer, his life's work.

Much later in life, he worked for a number of years well into his seventies at a Dutch antique book dealer and with his knowledge and interest in history, he was happy to have this position to pass his days.

Thea developed her natural talent for drawing and painting with the guidance of Opa Kiefmeyer.

At the age of twenty in 1937, just a few short years before the outbreak of World War 2 , Thea began her life's adventure by sailing to the Dutch East Indies after having married by proxy in Holland to Louk sr., her husband to be . Two years later she would give birth to her first child, daughter Myrna.

Later, she would marry Kees on July 23, 1947 in Sabang, settle down and raise her children. She had endured painful seperations from her family during the war.

In 1961, the whole family was reunited once again in Holland, but the desire to live in a warmer climate, made the family move again, this time in 1963 to the new frontier of Brisbane, Australia.

Thea & Kees would live another 44 years in Australia to become grand parents, and great grand parents many times over.

Only six weeks after her beloved Kees died, Thea passed away suddenly on October 6, 2007 and at 3pm on October 10, family and friends celebrated her life in a quiet ceremony at the Centenary Memorial Gardens Crematorium in Brisbane.

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The following stories are words spoken by her family at Thea's funeral service at 3pm on October 10, 2007.

• From Louk (son)

Hi Mam.

So much I would like to talk to you about but I find it very hard to find the words. The images whirl in front of me and as soon as I try to latch on to one another one replaces it.

I see pictures of a beautiful girl with big eyes full of expectation, love happiness and adventures.

Times were quite turbulent just a few short years before WW2 you sailed to the Dutch East Indies after having married by proxy in Holland, to be united with Louk your husband to be.

In the oct '39 you gave birth to a baby daughter, Myrna and some two and a half year later I myself appeared on the scene.

By now world events had taken a serious turn. Europe was well and truly embroiled in war and the pacific had followed suit. There was no turning back.

When I was born all the european women were rounded up and were herded in hastily constructed camps, you even had to leave me outside in the care of a doctor family for a few weeks while you and Myrna were to join the other women as prisoner of war.

We were held in camps for the duration of the war while the menfolk most of them went through horrific times in Birma where they were forced to work on the infamous railway.....many never made it

By good fortune we all came out of it in one piece, even my father, who of course I never had seen.

I can imagine a very happy time followed and we lived at that time in Sabang on Pulau Weh a little island NW of Sumatra. However the strain of war and separation did tell on your marriage and not too long after you both decided to part.

Events followed and both of you remarried. The sadness with what you had to live with by parting with Myrna my sister who was to follow my father, I only now fully appreciate after finding a big bundle of letters of Myrna from 1947 to the time she married.

Your 2nd marriage with Kees, who experienced a similar story usand brought his son Hans, my new brother, lasted a life time.

Over time three more brothers followed and we had a happy time on the various plantations with many trips to Holland and back.

How quick time goes bye it all seem to gone in a wink we are all grown up have our own families who called you Oma, oma -oma, grandma or more derivatives.

You'll be very much missed by us all, however knowing that you'll be together again with Kees who passed on only a very short time ago, gives us peace of mind.

Goodbye mam, I'll never forget you.

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• From Peter (son)

Nothing was more important to Mum than her husband and her family -

Our mother may have been small in stature but she had an enormous inner strength .

Even in the most difficult last years of Dad's life when he was unable to do even the simplest task mum was there to comfort and help her husband. Nothing was too much for her . Never did we hear her complain.

Through it all Mum was always there for all of us . Always caring always supporting.

Until her last days she had thought of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren .

She had birthday presents and Christmas presents sitting ready to be mailed to them.

If there is any way for her to watch over us I believe she will find it, because I know she is always interested in us.

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• From Hans (son)

I have lost a very special mother

A mother who took care of me when I came out of the ravages of an internment camp

A mother who raised me as her own.

A MOTHER WHO SAT WITH ME WHEN I WAS SAD

WHO KNEW WHAT TO DO WHEN I WAS SICK

THERE WAS A DEEP BOND BETWEEN US AND IT CAN NEVER BE BROKEN .

Than there was a gap for years when we were in Holland and our parents lived in Indonesia .

But mother wrote letters many of them and so faithfully

Yes our mother was not only our mother, she was our friend .

I will miss her every day for the rest of my life

I miss you Mum

With all my Love

Hans

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• From Kees (son)

We are here to remember and celebrate the life of a very special person.. my mother Thea Steen, our Mama.

We all experience a deep sense of loss at the moment but I have no regrets or unhappiness – all my mother’s wishes were fulfilled, she is complete and she is at peace.

She was a person of great inner strength and yet outwardly she was gentle and sympathetic. She may have seemed fragile and dependant, but her resolve was never broken. She was a tireless protector of her brood.

She was a lighthearted person, joyful sometimes full of laughter. She was very positive even in the last years, when the burden of caring for my father weighed heavily upon her.

She loved harmony not conflict, she hated unkindness or to see people suffering.

She was a genuine romantic, she never stopped loving my father.

She loved popular music, anything romantic or uplifting. Hs encouraged me to pursue in my life and supported my endeavours. She instilled in me her great love of animals.

She had limited education, like many women of her generation, she was not encouraged to seek higher education but she possessed a deep practical wisdom, and a strong intuitive knowledge.

She was a great cook. We all know how much boys like to eat, and boy did we eat. Her Indonesian cooking was superb. She was a very vocal advocate of healthy eating and healthy living in general.

In the time following our arrival in Australia when I was having difficulty adjusting to the new life, culture, language, and schooling she became my best friend, my confidant and my spiritual guide.

She was a great improviser. She made up bedtime stories for us with a character called Pikneus (pointy nose). Sometimes they were hilarious stories, sometimes mysterious. I remember longing for the next installment.

Another happy memory is when I was 13 or so. I was learning the guitar. On this occasion, three of us, my mother Hans and I were singing some pop hits of the time. Whenever Hans and Thea got together there was much laughter, and this was no exception.

As I strummed my guitar and they sang, I remember feeling enormous satisfaction and joy… my mother was in her element that day.

I’m going to play a short improvisation on that song on the guitar.

(Kees played - “A Groovy kind of love” – by the UK band – The Mindbenders – a hit in 1966)

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• From Erik (son)

Mum was an adventurous woman. Her adventure had begun long ago. When she was 20 years old she left Holland for Indonesia.

Then after many idyllic years she returned to Holland for while,

and then in the early sixties set upon another adventure, to Australia.

She was a simple woman, without much need for material things. She was happy looking after her family. She never worked, she never drove a car, never felt the need for it. She had been brought up in a lifestyle in Indonesia that was worthy of royalty. But when her lifestyle changed, she took it in her stride.

She was a determined woman, reserved, a little shy, but she was strong.

Mam was a very resourceful and courageous person. Like Dad she survived the Japanese prisoner of war camps.

She had many traumatic experiences during and after the war, and had dealt with long separations from Dad and from her children.

She loved Queensland , and she loved the birdlife , and the various tropical plants and flowers always reminding her of her beloved Indonesia.

She was an animal lover. She had many dogs and cats in her years. Up until her last days she was doting on the local birds, who would come to feed out of her hand on her balcony.

She was ageless, she looked beautiful right up until the very end. She had always said, make sure you always use moisturizer on your face and she wasn't wrong, her skin in her last hours was worthy of a newborn baby.

Mum had no knowledge of modern technology, yet in the last year had mastered the art of making a mobile call and programming her vcr to record her favourite tv program "days of our lives", a show she had followed for more than 30 years. She was very proud of becoming more tech savvy. She soon was going to learn how to use a microwave.

When dad died 6 weeks ago, she decided to be more adventurous again in her last years.

She had plans to visit all her sons far away, interstate and overseas, and she was going to go out with her few friends more regularly. She wanted to paint again. She had been a gifted artist and painter in her younger years.

She had an amazing ability to remember birthdays, and to get the presents and christmas gifts interstate and overseas, right on time. She always knew what to buy the kids, no matter what age, no matter where they lived.

She had an uncanny knack of saving her kids from disaster. One time when I was very young, I was badly choking in a lychee fruit, but mum, without panic or hesitation, stuck her finger in my throat and ripped the darn sucker right out. No problem.

Not long after dad died, she said she felt cool breeze over her hand in bed at night as if he was touching her. And then a little later she dreamed he was standing in the doorway with jessie the cat. These were earie, spiritual experiences for her, as if somehow she knew she would join him soon.

In her last days, she said would like to live another 10 years.

And she wanted to give to needy people. She got incredible joy out of giving to people less fortunate, and seeing their happy faces.

She was also incredibly proud of her achievement in her last 4 years. She looked after a husband suffering from dementia and alzheimers, but she never complained, although we know that she was very tired and worn out.

A true testimony of her silent but great support that she had been to our Dad for all of their 60 years of married life.

Mum was a loving wife to Kees, and a wonderful soft-hearted mum to her children, her grand children and great grand children. She was so grateful for all the lucky and happy years, that Kees and her family had given her.

And so she has begun another journey, another adventure.

We'll miss our very special dear mum.

happy journey mum.

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• From Mark – Grandchild (son of Hans)

Our grandmother, to us ,our Oma, will always be with us.

She was an amazing women, of great determination and inner strength.

She loved her family dearly especially her husband of sixty years, Kees. together, they were an example of true love at its best.

She was a courageous women destined to provide for her family while living between Holland, Indonesia and Australia.

Oma loved her grandchildren and great grand children immensly.

Oma, together with opa, would take great pride in watching their grandchildren and great grandchildren grow and mature.

Oma was a fantastic cook, who liked to spoil her guests with incredible Indonesian dinners.

Oma was also an artist, her collection of drawings and paintings follow her life time, with a special appreciation for people and scenery.

Oma was a wonderful person – a gift – never to be forgotten.

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• From Elsa (Louk's wife)

" No, it never rains here"; "I cannot remember when it rained last"...,would be the usual remark you would make during a telephone conversation, when we talked about the weather-as you do!.

Now, a kindred spirit in the sky, you have already left your mark in the heavens, because as fate will have it, since you left, we had thunder, lightning and rain every afternoon.

When you became my mother-in law, you said, "just call me Thea"......but of course I never could, too rrash, too forward calling one's mother in law by her first name.

To call you "mother" was out of the question. I had my own, the one and only. So I managed to not call you anything in particular.....until our first son was born. Then I could call you "oma", if you liked it or not.....

Well you did not really like at first, but what the heck.

A doting Oma you turned out to be ever since, spoiling them all rotten, at birthdays at Christmasses. It never stopped. Untill we hinted carefully, enough is enough....They are grown boys now.....

Much later you became a "great grandma", fondly referred to by our grandkids as"Oma-oma"....and it started all over again, the spoiling them rotten at birthday and Christmasses. You just couldnot help your self.

......And you still cannot......On the spare room floor in your apartment are standing allready neatly in a row the latest Christmas presents, waiting, waiting ........Silent witnesses of an Oma's love.

Goodbye Oma

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• From Annette (Peter's wife)

I first came into contact with Oma when I was 15 years old. Peter came to our high school and the new ‘foreign’ boy had a party at his place.

Teenage parties in those days had standard things – oranges with toothpicks and cabana, cheese, pineapple, pickled onion stuck to them, chips, peanuts, soft drinks and 60’s music.

We actually went into the lounge room and not under the house, or in the back yard.

And Peter’s mum had not only made everything ready, but had disappeared with his Dad. This definitely was a good impression.

She continued to give us untiring support. I have always felt her power helping us along. She has provided Peter with the unconditional love which helps to make him strong. And this love has extended to our 3 children and their children.

I am so grateful to her for that.

Personally she has shown me that occasions should be made “special”. A container of fresh flowers in the home, flowers as a gift to someone else, never forgetting a birthday, something nice to wear can just be the colour of it.

I don’t believe she was a materialistic person, just a ‘particular’ person – I like that. I think she had a good power and she used it wisely.

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• From Nicci (Grand child - Peter & Annette)

I feel very lucky and privileged that Oma has shared many of my life experiences.

So many of my childhood recollections involve her.

I remember hunting for beautifully painted eggs at Easter, and then playing an egg cracking game.

Oma always decorated a birthday chair for Andrew, Natalie and I to sit on for our birthday treat, she introduced us to new foods and always made my favourites especially for me.

She let us dress up in her clothes, explore her gorgeous jewellery, and trinklets, and was a willing audience to our impromptu shows.

Whenever we visited Oma would bring us treats on special grown up plates with real glasses to drink from and napkins and fancy forks. She made us feel special.

When I had my own children Oma was one of the first to visit them and became an important part of their life too. Always playing pretend games with them and making them feel special by listening to their stories and delighting in the artwork they made for her. Our house is full of the toys and trinklets Oma gave us and our minds are full of memories of a Grandmother and Great Grandmother who was as giving of her time and love as she was with her gifts.

My daughter has “Thea” as her middle name so it stays in the family for another generation.

The love she has shared with us has helped shape our lives and we are all the better for it.

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• From Suzie (Erik's wife)

Oma as I will call her now, has touched my heart in a way no one ever could.

It took time with the distance of miles and times together, but we eventually formed our

own quiet personal bond and I was able to call her mum in private conversations.

I was always amazed at how we could just pick up and talk after not seeing each other for awhile –

or the understanding we had for each other over the phone and some of our own similarities.

Her unconditional love and support for her “boys” (who always had to have their rice) was as deep as any love I could imagine.

A special little lady with enormous love, intuition and fashion-sense – even for her grandchildren – will always remain in our hearts.

I cherished her bond with me, Erik and Derek and Jackie. I learned from her so much –

as she came through so much in her life and did not become embittered.

Her love, kisses, hugs and smile will be terriby missed by us all.

As she would say at the end of every phone call: “I love you darling”.

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• From Mischa and Elke (Grand children - Kees & Omkar)

For as long as we can remember our Oma has been there with her caring and selfless nature and we feel lucky to have known her.

Although we didn't always get to see her that often, she always made it clear how much she cared about her grandchildren

and through the years we have always felt close to her.

Oma was always incredibly caring and nurturing. She cared deeply for all her family and you could feel this when you spoke to her.

She had the ability to connect with you on a personal level and despite there being many years difference in age you felt she always understood you.

Her caring nature extended beyond family as she would always be seen obsessing over her garden or her birds.

Although kind and gentle Oma was also a very strong and proud woman. She was firm and bold even in her old age.

She would always refuse assistance as she liked to do things herself.

These qualities saw us have great respect for our Oma as it is rare to find someone with the strength and integrity that she carried with her so gracefully.

Oma had experienced a life of difficulty that we in this time could not even fathom, however with all the hardship she endured she was never hardened.

She never lost her gentle softness and the loving kindness that we all experienced throughout our time with her.

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