ALBERTINE "TINA" RAU

With great sadness but a lifetime of joyful memories, we mourn our beloved mother, grandmother, and friend, Albertine "Tina" Rau, who passed away on July 14, 2012.

Tina was born in the Dutch Colonies of Indonesia on the island of Sumatra on November 18, 1925.  Tina was raised in Indonesia, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. After World War II, Tina joined the Dutch Navy as part of the "Marva" first class of female soldiers within the Dutch Navy, where she worked as a secretary and administrator.  Tina was fluent in five languages. In the1950s, Tina worked as a personal assistant for the Dutch Ambassador to Cuba at the Dutch Embassy in Havana, Cuba.  During a trip to Mexico, Tina met her future husband, Alfred Rau.  Alfred and Tina married in 1955 in Havana and spent their honeymoon years there until Castro nationalized the country and seized the Rau family's steel pipe mill.  Tina and Alfred then moved to Warren, Pennsylvania where they both worked for National Forge, a steel forging company, and raised their children, Michel and Annette.  Tina was a life-long passionate horticulturalist with a thriving garden.  She was involved in local charities including the Cancer Society, and was an avid and prolific water-color painter. After Alfred passed away in 2010, Tina moved to California to be closer her family and grandchildren.

Tina will be missed terribly by all who loved and knew her, but the image of her smile, her beauty, her style, and her unique sense of fun remains etched in our hearts forever.

A Memorial will be held at the burial at Oakland Cemetery, 37 Mohawk Ave., Warren, PA, at 1pm, Friday, July 20, 2012.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America (1-866-232-8484) or the Alzheimer's Association (1-800-272-3900) in memory of Tina Rau.