Lolo Soetoro

Lolo Soetoro (January 2, 1935 – March 2, 1987), also known as Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo or Mangundikardjo, was an Indonesian geographer. He was born in Bandung, in the West Java province of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). Soetoro was the ninth of ten children born to Soewarno Martodihardjo, an employee of a mining office from Yogyakarta, and Djoeminah. His siblings included Supoyo (1897–1955), Supomo (born 1921), Sugiyo (born 1925), Bambang Sugito (born 1927), Soemitro Soetoro (born 1933), and sisters Cuk Muhsidi (born 1923), Titik Imam Sutiknyo (born 1929), Soewardinah (born 1931), and Uki Gunowiyono Soetoro. All of Soetoro’s siblings had deceased by 2010.

Soetoro completed his undergraduate studies in geography at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. In 1962, he received an East-West Center grant for graduate studies in geography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He moved to Honolulu in September 1962 and earned a Master of Arts degree in geography in June 1964.

He married Ann Dunham, a divorced American woman, on March 15, 1965. Soetoro was employed as a civilian within the Indonesian Army Topographic Service at the time of their marriage. Following the marriage, Soetoro returned to Indonesia in 1966 to assist in mapping Western New Guinea for the Indonesian government. Dunham and her son Barack Obama relocated to Indonesia in 1967 and initially lived for two and a half years in Menteng Dalam village, South Jakarta. The family owned a new Japanese motorcycle and resided in a modest stucco and red tile house. Dunham worked as assistant director of the Indonesia-America Friendship Institute during this period, while Barack attended the Santo Fransiskus Asisi (St. Francis of Assisi) Catholic School.

In 1970, Soetoro obtained a position in government relations at Union Oil Company, prompting the family to move to a rented house two miles north, where they acquired a car in place of their motorcycle. Dunham held a departmental head position and directed the Lembaga Pendidikan dan Pengembangan Manajemen (LPPM), the Institute of Management Education and Development. On August 15, 1970, Soetoro and Dunham had a daughter named Maya Kasandra Soetoro.

Barack Obama moved to Hawaii in 1971 to attend Punahou School. Dunham later returned to Hawaii with her daughter in August 1972 to pursue graduate studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, earning an M.A. in anthropology in December 1974. Subsequently, she and her daughter returned to Jakarta in 1975, while Obama remained in Hawaii. Dunham and her daughter spent six months in Jakarta in 1976, where they lived with Soetoro’s mother. During this period, Dunham developed an increased interest in Indonesian culture, whereas Soetoro became more inclined towards Western culture, leading to conflicts over values. The couple divorced on November 6, 1980.

In his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Barack Obama described Soetoro as well-mannered, even-tempered, and approachable. Obama also noted Soetoro’s adherence to a form of Islam that incorporated elements of older animist and Hindu traditions. A 2007 article by Kim Barker of the Chicago Tribune reported that Soetoro was characterized by former friends and neighbors as more of a free spirit than a devout Muslim.

In 1980, Soetoro married Erna Kustina, with whom he had two children: Bayu Yusuf Aji Soetoro (born 1981), and Rahayu Nurmaida Soetoro (born 1984). He also had an adopted daughter, Holiah Soetoro (1957–2010). Soetoro died at Pertamina Central Hospital in Jakarta due to liver failure on March 2, 1987, at the age of 52. He was interred at Tanah Kusir Cemetery.