Leo Reinier Tjon-Joe-Pin passed away at the age of 87 on January 1, 2019 in his home in Missouri City, Texas. Leo was born on April 30, 1931 in Paramaribo, Suriname (South America). He had 14 siblings: Irma, Lidia, Sylvia, Edmund, Magda, Yvonne, Anita, Kon Njoek, Lydia, Mavis, Cynthia, Hellen, Glenn and Joyce. He was the second oldest.
He worked for Suralco for 30 years in various positions before retiring and relocating to the United States. As a young boy, Leo was always eager for knowledge and studied under the lights of the corner store, since they did not have electricity themselves. Being very athletic, he excelled in soccer and gymnastics, but athletics had no future in Suriname. So, at the age of 16, he left Suriname to work in Curaçao for a couple of years and save money for his studies in Holland. He also tried to financially support his family back home as much as possible.
After saving what he thought was enough, he got on a ship as a stowaway heading for Holland, in order to satisfy his thirst for knowledge and determination to become successful. He came to attend the “Higher Technical School of The Hague” (now called the Technical University of The Hague) and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
He went back to Suriname, where he married his high school sweetheart, Amalia Josephine Yvel-Tjon. He became chief process engineer for Alcoa’s subsidiary in Suriname, Suralco. Leo and Amalia stayed married to each other for over 62 years and had four children Aïda, Peggy (husband Tom), Ingrid (husband Jozsef) and Robert (ex-wife DiAnn).
He also had 10 grandchildren: Jon-Pierre (wife Mary), Nikki (fiancé Derrek), Nathan, Tommy, Chris (wife Hannah), Candice, Kevin, Kirsten, Amelia and Jessica. He also had 2 great grandchildren: Harper and Grayson.
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