Edeline Agnes Grahmbeek

Edeline Agnes Grahmbeek, 101, passed away on Sunday November 17, 2025 at East Lake Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She bravely fought against the ravages of time upon memory for many years before her passing and finally lost her battle. Agnes believed in redemption through Jesus Christ and was always devoted to the First Presbyterian Church of Elkhart who had sponsored the Grahmbeek family to emigrate to the U.S. in 1959.

Agnes was born in Malang, East Java, Indonesia on June 13, 1924. Her extended family lived in Malang since the 18th century being of Dutch ancestry. Those individuals of blended Dutch and Indonesian ancestry are today known as “Indos” living mostly in Indonesia, the Netherlands and the U.S. During World War Two and the Japanese occupation of Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), all Indonesian citizens of Dutch and European ancestry were interned for the duration of the war. As a result, they lost their property, employment and their way of life even though many of them were intermarried with the indigenous population for over 300 years. Regrettably, Agnes never let go of her earlier life, her family’s internment and her estrangement from the country of her birth and youth. At times, she found it hard to move on. But, as her advanced age attests, she had a tough, unrelenting spirit and will - never giving up on life.

Agnes married Jacobus Johannes (Jack) Grahmbeek after meeting him at the KLM airlines office, where they were both employed, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Jack came to Indonesia from the Netherlands to work for the Dutch Transport Company after the war and later worked as an auditor for KLM airlines. After Indonesian independence in 1948, it became very turbulent and precarious for anyone associated with the Netherlands. A large majority of Dutch and Indos had to leave Indonesia for Australia, the Netherlands and the U.S. because of targeted violence and erasure of their Dutch-Indo identities. Jack, Agnes and most of her extended family moved to Amsterdam and the Hague in the Netherlands. Of course, this was a country and climate she was unfamiliar with and had never visited. Very cold, rainy and snowy. Quite an adjustment! This was also a time of upheaval, Europe’s economy was reeling because of the war and there were few opportunities, jobs and housing. Not to mention the discrimination from the resident population when over 100,000 Indos emigrated to the Netherlands during the late 1940’s to the 1960’s. While living with Jack’s parents in Amsterdam, Jack and Agnes somehow found hope for the future in the aftermath of World War Two and conceived two boys, Peter Hans (1951) and Robert Edwin (1952).

In 1959, the Grahmbeek family emigrated to Elkhart where Agnes already had a sister residing there. The Grahmbeek family became proud U.S. citizens as soon as it became available to them in 1967. So much so that she became the catalyst for the Grahmbeek family to visit historical sites up and down the East Coast – both Revolutionary War and Civil War sites. Colonial Williamsburg became one of her favorite places to visit. Her love of history and patriotism was infectious and was instilled in her boys. She kept up with history and world-wide events until her memory started to fade in later years. Agnes worked many years for Drakes and Stephenson’s as a seamstress and later self-employed doing the same. She volunteered as a docent at the Ruthmere Museum into her 80’s. An avid chef and baker, Agnes always prepared Dutch and Indonesian cuisine for special occasions. Christmas and the holidays meant that all sorts of cookies, cakes and goodies were in the offing. She lived on her own in her beloved home on East Jackson into her early 90’s after Jack’s passing in 2001. Edeline Agnes Grahmbeek packed many lifetimes into one life across a century of time. She was a pillar to the family in the U.S. and the Netherlands. Many looked up to her because of her steadfastness and iron will through her many travails. Her motto: Never give in. May you finally find peace and solace in heaven with Jack and all those Indo relatives who were lost along the way. Godspeed!

She is survived by her two sons – Peter Hans Grahmbeek and Robert Edwin Grahmbeek and countless nephews and nieces both in the U.S. and the Netherlands.

No services are scheduled at this time. Hartzler-Gutermuth-Inman Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Edeline Agnes Grahmbeek, please visit our floral store.