Annie Violet van Gendt

She was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic on April 26, 1944 to a Dominican mother and Dutch father. The family lived in the DR and then Holland before landing on the shores of Manhattan, NY in 1957. Her most favorite childhood memories were of riding a bicycle in the streets of Amsterdam and eating herring from these street carts which seemed like some mystical oddity. And of Saint Nicholas and Christmas. She loved retelling these stories and about how much she adored her father who sadly passed away before she married. If she could have had any wish, it would have been that her children had the chance to meet the man that she revered so much, and who stayed very much in her heart throughout her years. This was heartbreaking for Annie. She lived in New York City with her mother, Minerva, and younger sister Ingrid. These three women were thick as thieves and were actively in each other’s lives until Minerva passed away in the Dominican Republic in May 2018. They often laughed until they cried as they told stories. It was a sight to behold. At the age of 20, she fell in love and married Peter Seng, a transplant from Hong Kong who was studying at Columbia University. She eagerly took on the role of a loving and caring mother who only wanted the best for her children: Irka, Paul and Eric. She doted on them during their younger years, and did her best to equip them to become upstanding happy adults. She taught them the value of kindness towards others. While she loved all animals, cats were her favorite. Crystal, Bailey, Napoleon and Smokey were some of her favorite “fur” children that lived on in her heart after they passed. She instilled within her children a strong moral fiber that was independent of religion; she was not a believer or fan of organized religion. She taught them that there are good and bad people of every race, religion, etc., something that has stayed with each of her children in their adulthood. She was an excellent human being. She never openly acknowledged that her mixed-race children were different. If people reacted to them in a negative way, it was obviously a reflection of that person’s ignorance, and she didn’t have the time or energy to put towards that. But to only remark on her life as a wife and mother would be a disservice. She was so much more. She was an exceptionally talented human being that excelled at numerous hobbies and crafts ranging from sewing, cross stitch, quilting, cooking, and gardening. She won numerous awards for her unique quilts and orchids. She also loved to pass time by reading as well as watching animal docu-series and true crime tv- she was a sleuth at heart. Some little-known tidbits about Annie: • She got a BS in marine biology from Stony Brook University • She got a doctorate degree in dentistry from NYU • She counts her change from stores in Dutch • She won a chopstick contest in Hong Kong • While she often found Christmas to be a depressing holiday in her later years, she got her greatest joy from buying Christmas presents for underprivileged children. • She mixed up American idioms that often led to hilarity, even if the intention was not There is no possible way to summarize one person’s life in this small space, but hopefully this gives you an inkling of who Annie was. One thing that should be acknowledged is that she suffered from chronic depression. For those that she loved and loved her, this could be challenging at times. Some were able to remain above it and weather the storm, and others weren’t as successful. But if you did ride it out with her, you were rewarded magnificently because she was worth it. She was awed by the brilliance of her grandchildren: Piper and Guy. The mention of either Princess or GT, her nicknames for them respectively, lit up her eyes. She was Oma to them (grandmother in Dutch) and adored them for who they were. Towards the end of her life, she often reflected that her favorite times of her life were when she was a mother to her young children. It was wonderful that at the end, she was on excellent terms with all of her children and was about to embark on a new and exciting chapter in her life. To sum it all up, she was a loving person like no other. She is survived by her children, Irka, Paul and Eric; her grandchildren, Piper and Guy; her sister, Ingrid.

Annie Violet van Gendt

April 26, 1944 - September 27, 2019