Category Archives: Obituaries

Hadidjah Gregory Has Passed!

by Marston Gregory

Hadidjah (Sarellen) Browdie Gregory (1943 – 2025)

It is with both sadness and joy for her, to report that after a fall, then hip surgery, Hadidjah whispered “Allah in each breath” as she left this World. She is on her way home to now be fully one with her creator. I was honored to be at her bedside.

She is survived by her brother Richard Browdie who lives in Washington D.C. Her other brother David Browdie, MD passed away last year.

Her last days were difficult with onset of memory loss and many other challenging health issues. Memory loss was very difficult for her since memory was one of her gifts.

Hers was a life of service in three key elements, Subud, AA, and her marriage, in her extraordinary life of service to others. She was a woman of many talents, from art which was her true work, plus many healthcare roles including caring for the elderly with Catholic Community Services and food service. She trained to be a Medical Technician and worked on the staff of doctors and in a hospital.

She said often that she “Was Subud” and she demonstrated that also by being a fully engaged helper. She filled roles as a local helper in San Diego, Marin, Los Angeles, Austin and finally Seattle until she became an Honorary Retired Helper. She also was a Subud USA National Helper and Subud PNW Regional Helper. A phrase she repeated often is a Bapak quote “You are Subud” and she lived that each day.

Another very important role was her work in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) which she discovered after her opening in Subud, she was addicted to Alcohol which was self-medication for recovering from the loss of both parents by the time she was fourteen. She was able to turn that tragic past into a life of healing and helping others. After 60 years of sobriety, she was an inspiration to many women who she sponsored.

She had a dream that she was at the gates of heaven and was asked, “What did you do on earth?” She replied, “I fed people”. She then immediately got a job at Microsoft in their catering department and often served the young Bill Gates. I believe that was a symbol of her life of service. She prayed over every drink for Bill. She prayed that his life was to be of service to humanity and indeed that has manifested.

As her partner, friend and spouse it has been 51 years of love with this dear soul who fought and won so many challenges.

A memorial is being planned at the Seattle Subud Center at around 100 days from her passing. She passed on November 2, 2025. The ceremony will be announced at a later date.

May God in his love and mercy make her passage easy.
Her devoted Husband, Marston Gregory

Link to photos of Hadidjah from Rachman Cantrell
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WjdpYePxXtU3khg49

Ann Cary Memorial Message

My Mother Ann Cary died on July 2nd. She was opened in 1960. She and my dad Chuck Cary  were active with Subud for many years, serving as local and regional helpers in the 60’s and 70’s.  They also attended the Wisma Subud World Congress in Cilandak Jakarta, Indonesia in 1971.  Subud and the Latihan have been an important part of their lives.

Ann D. Cary, (Brueher), died on July 2nd, 2025, in Federal Way, WA. She was
surrounded at the end by family members and the love of many others.

Ann was born Dec. 2nd, 1937, in Aberdeen, WA to Arthur and Bertha Brueher. As the eldest
child and cousin, she was a mainstay of strength in the family. The family moved
around during the war years, but returned to Aberdeen where Ann finished school,
graduating from Aberdeen (Weatherwax) HS in 1955.

Ann’s family was very musical and Ann sang and played piano, as well as classical violin. She would be involved in local symphony orchestras throughout her life.

After high school, Ann attended Grays Harbor CC before transferring to the University of
Washington. There she met the man who would share her life, Robert “Chuck” Cary.
They married in 1957 and would spend the next 67 years together.

Ann was full of life and adventure, she gamely went around the world with Chuck,
representing the United States as he performed his duties as a diplomat for the State
Dept. They lived in Washington DC, Australia, and Germany before leaving the State
Dept. to return to the Pacific NW. They settled in what is now SeaTac, WA and raised
their family. She was adept at learning new skills and eventually took those skills and
started a consulting business with her husband which carried them into their retirement
years.

To many though, Ann’s greatest strength was her capacity to love and create an open
and safe home. She will be remembered for her laugh, her humor, and her hugs.

Committed to family, both she and Chuck would willingly travel to visit loved ones. Over
the years, they spent time with family all around the world and throughout the United
States.

Ann is preceded in death by her parents, Art Brueher and Bertie Elliott, her sister Gail
Ryerson, brother Henry Brueher, and son, David (who died in infancy). She is survived
by her loving husband Chuck, sons Evan (Ratna), Mike (Cindy), Tom (Anne), Steve
(Mari) and daughters Susan Paganelli (Ben), and Lisa Hill (Zach), her brothers, Bob
(Marlene) and Doug (Julie), as well as Chuck’s sisters, Genie and Gloria. Also mourning
her are 20 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren, as well as numerous extended
family members and friends.

A memorial service was held on July 27th.

If inclined, donations may be made in her name to Grays Harbor Symphony through the
Bishop Performing Arts Center.

Kenneth Chaffee has passed

Above photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace, Mariana’s sister.

As you may know by now, Kenneth passed a week ago, in the early hours of July 10, 2025.  He had been seriously ill with advanced Parkinson’s and its ramifications and complications, and finally his body simply became too fragile to keep going.

Kenneth was opened in Claremont, California in early 1962, while he was still in college.  Later that year he moved back to his hometown, Berkeley, to go to graduate school. He did latihan in San Francisco until the Berkeley group formed, and latihaned in Berkeley until1970.  Kenneth became a helper, and he and I married in 1965.

In 1970, Kenneth and I traveled to Europe to follow Bapak and his party around from group to group, and toward the end of that first part of Bapak’s 1970 world tour, we were invited by Ibu Siti Sumari to join the tour and travel with them for the rest of the tour, and to come back with them to Cilandak to live. This was okayed by Bapak, so we quickly flew back to Berkeley, got our affairs in order, bought tickets, and rejoined Bapak’s party in Toronto, following them to America, then to Europe for the second European tour, on to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, and finally to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta.

We lived in Wisma Subud for eight years, until May of 1978.  During that time Kenneth worked for several companies in data processing and also worked with Sampson Rheams to record the talks Bapak gave in Wisma Subud during that time period.  Our three oldest children, Rosalind, Margaret, and Livingston, were born during the time we lived in Indonesia.

We returned to California, and settled in Ventura, near his brother Hamilton, and we became part of the Ventura group.  Kenneth continued to work as a computer programmer, and our two youngest sons, Anthony and Lucas, were born in Ventura.

In late 1989 our family moved to the Seattle area, where we have lived ever since.

Kenneth was the kindest, best person I have ever known. We miss him deeply and pray that God will bless him and keep him always.  We are planning to offer a Selamatan on the 100th day after his death, on October 18, 2025.  We will send you details about that as arrangements are made and finalized.

Mariana Chaffee

Kenneth Chaffee., Berkeley, California, mid sixties

Kenneth in Cilandak for the 71 Subud World Congress.