Esther Sumartojo's storied road to home at Terwilliger Plaza
Esther Sumartojo
Terwilliger Plaza Member, Parkview Charter Member
Tell me about your professional journey.
My professional journey relates to my personal journey, and my marriage in particular. I met my husband, Jojok (his nickname was “Yo”, pronouncing the “J” like “Y”), when we were students at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. I was in my sophomore year, majoring in French, and Yo was working on his masters in geology. On a lark in my sophomore year, I signed up for the spring break geology field trip to West Virginia and met Yo on a sunny mountainside on the first day of the trip – and that was that. He was from Indonesia, studying here on a USAID scholarship. We were married during Christmas break of my senior year, and once I graduated, I went to live with Yo in Cincinnati where was working on his doctorate. There I worked as a case worker at the Hamilton County Welfare Department, which was an absolute eye opener for me. It was painful and difficult to see the circumstances in which some people lived, but I tried to help them when I could.
Yo was indigenous Javanese, and after he completed his coursework and qualifying exams, we moved to Indonesia, to the city of Bandung in East Java. We lived there for about a year and a half in a little house with bamboo mats for walls, and no plumbing or electricity - just a well and latrine in the back. It was a rich and exciting time for a young woman with “peace corps” aspirations. Eventually Yo was offered the opportunity to do his doctoral research through the Department of Geology at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. We lived in Australia for five and a half years. It’s where our two daughters were born, and where I first began to study psychology at the University of Adelaide.
When Yo was offered a teaching position at Vanderbilt University, we came back to Nashville, TN. There, I enrolled at Peabody College and received my Master’s in Psychology. While I was working on my PhD, Peabody merged with Vanderbilt University, and I received my Doctorate in Social Psychology from Peabody/Vanderbilt - all while raising our two young children. From there, we relocated to Houston, TX and a job at Exxon for Yo. There I worked in the research department at the Houston Independent School District – and then, in 1988 we moved to Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta, and there I started my job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Can you talk about your career within the CDC?
I worked at the CDC for 24 years, retiring in 2013. It is one of the best things that ever happened to me. CDC is a powerful federal agency, and has a mission that I could believe in. I worked with good people, and we believed in what we were doing. I was one of a small number of social scientists at CDC when I first started, but those numbers have increased with the recognition of the importance of behavioral issues in public health.
When I first began in 1989, it was in the role of sociologist (I hope any readers who are sociologists will forgive me, but I figured a social psychologist could manage the work) in the Tuberculosis Division. Here, the issue was convincing people to take medication for long periods of time even though they were past the point of feeling very sick. During this time the CDC funded me to do a Master’s in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This was extremely helpful to my understanding the language and methods of public health.
After several years, I moved over to the division on HIV prevention with a primary focus on finding ways to influence the behavior of young gay men. Our work was exploring how to communicate more effectively, while also leveraging influencers and leaders within the community to influence behaviors. For my last few years, I shifted to the center on birth defects and developmental disabilities. My job was primarily science oversight making sure that the science and publications met federal requirements.
What is bringing you to Portland and to Terwilliger?
Yo died a little over 3 years ago. We had been talking about Portland, because it is closer to our daughter who lives in Vancouver, BC. I began to learn more about retirement communities and became curious about accreditation standards and consulted with friends already in retirement communities. Then I began to research retirement communities in the Pacific Northwest, and that’s how I found Terwilliger Plaza. The more I researched, the more I became interested. I was impressed by the nonprofit status, the participation of residents on the board, the lack of a required meal plan, and the location within a very interesting city.
I came to visit and instantly made friends. There are many remarkable people who live and work at Terwilliger. I found the staff to be incredibly generous, hospitable, helpful, competent, and kind. It was during this trip, where I went on long walks guided by my new friend Joan, explored the city, and heard piano music playing in the hallway that I knew Terwilliger Plaza was right for me. To me, the best way to define the people who live at Terwilliger is: down to earth, progressive intellectuals.
Are you a musician?
I love music – and I while I don’t count myself as a musician, I have studied piano for many years. I grew up in Hudson, south of Cleveland, Ohio and often had the opportunity to attend concerts at the Cleveland Orchestra, a world-known symphony orchestra. Between piano lessons and classical concerts and chamber music events, music has always been a part of my life. When I come to Portland, I’m looking forward to finding a piano teacher.
It is interesting to learn that while you’re moving into the Tower at Terwilliger, you have secured an apartment home in Parkview and will move once the building is complete.
I was very impressed with the plans for Parkview, but was preparing to sell my house in Marietta, and didn’t want to delay given the excellent real estate situation at that time. The staff at Terwilliger suggested that I could move to the Tower or the Heights while waiting for Parkview to be completed. It was their help that made it possible. And I was ready to become a part of the community here. I simply didn’t want to wait for my life to move on. Often, I have thought as I get older that it would be great to live in a city. That was also a major factor in my decision to make the move sooner rather than later. I want to start making friends and get to know the city. While I am moving into Terwilliger Plaza, I am also moving to Portland, which is very exciting.
What are you most looking forward to?
What I am hopeful about is that I will have a cadre of friends with common interests. In Georgia I had been active in a Buddhist sangha and was a member of a Unitarian Universalist congregation that was very open and progressive. These two institutions are an important part of my life, so I will be looking for these communities in Portland.
I am very much aware that it’s up to me. It’s all here. This feels like the last phase of my life, and it’s up to me to make it what I want. Everything is in place to do that. The resources are all here - the people, the city, and the beautiful environment.
I want this next chapter in my life to be an adventure.