Obituary of Alexander Pangkerego

Alex was born on October 27, 1940 to Jotham Christoffel Pangkerego and Amelia Susanna Constantia Ratulangi in Jakarta. He grew up in Ujung Pandang and went to the University of Indonesia but then dropped out and transferred to Jakarta Academy of Languages. In May 17th, 1974, Alex married Sri and went on to have three children, Ali, Chippy and Dini. He worked for KLM for 17 years from 1965 and spent 10 years in PT Jasa Angkasa Semesta as an Airport Ground-Handling Agent from 1984 and also at All Nippon Airways before moving to the United States in 2002 with Dini to join Sri, Ali and Chippy. From 2003 to 2007, he worked as a Magazine Distributor at Target/ Walgreens and at JaniKing Commercial Cleaning where he took Sri and Dini cleaning offices from 6PM to 2AM every day. Life came to full circle when he went back to his love of airplanes and airports as he joined Virgin America as a Guest Services Founding Team-member in 2007. He was very excited when he found out that Virgin America wanted to hire him at the age of 67 and he was one of the first fifty employees of Virgin America. He happily spent an hour travelling in traffic going to and from LAX for his swing shifts. Alex loved God and love serving in Church. He was a member of GPIB Effatha, GPIB Gibeon then lastly GPIB Philadelphia in Indonesia. He served as Deacon and Elder and also active in the men’s life group. His love of music and hymns inspired him to join the church choir and often become the church song leader. When he moved to the US, he joined Ark of Christ in Lakewood then New Life Community Church in 2017. In 2012, Alex became a citizen of the United States and then retired from Virgin America in 2013 after suffering a light stroke. In 2014, Alex was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Alex’s hobby are reading, singing hymns, bowling, tennis, and organizing. His favorite food is bread with pendekas (peanut butter), Soto Betawi and Bubur Ayam. Alex is fluent in Indonesian, English, Dutch, and German. Alex passed away at home in Anaheim surrounded by all his family in the early morning of April 6th after a long battle with Parkinson’s and dementia. Alex is survived by his wife and three children and two sisters in Indonesia, Connie and Riekje.