Wilson Manik

HEART:
Humility/Honesty
Empathy
Aspiration
Respect
Trust/Truth Teller

Obituary

Wilson Manik, a beloved husband, father, sibling, uncle, and friend, passed away peacefully at the age of 72 on September 8, 2025, at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, surrounded by his family. He was born on August 13, 1953 in Sangkal, Samosir, a village on a volcanic island within Lake Toba, in North Sumatra, Indonesia. He was the third surviving child of the late Bunga Ulim Sidabalok and JJ Manik.

He grew up caring for the family’s goats and water buffalo before leaving the village to attend a Catholic seminary for junior high school, where he first became interested in world affairs. Quitting the seminary after his mother’s death, he returned to the village where he farmed shallots for two years. Luckily for Wilson, when his older brother, a university student in Yogyakarta, returned to the village for a visit, he insisted that Wilson should be in high school. He took Wilson back to Java with him and paid the school tuition.

Wilson went on to attend Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta before transferring to IKIP Malang where he majored in English and assisted with the Consortium for the Teaching of Indonesian (COTI), tutoring American students in Indonesian language. Through the program, he met Ellen Perlman and the two married in 1979 and moved to Santa Barbara, where their daughter Tamara was born. He returned to school to study math and learned about computers at the University of California at Santa Barbara—an interest that would become his professional calling.

Wilson and his family moved to Los Angeles, where he continued his studies at UCLA and worked as a computer programmer. After he and Ellen separated, he met Abby Cohn, a graduate student in Linguistics who was looking for an Indonesian tutor. He followed Abby to Ithaca, NY—the coldest place he had ever been—where they married in 1990, and later welcomed twin daughters Hannah and Sarah. He made Ithaca his home for the next 35 years.

Wilson distinguished himself in his work as a software engineer at UCLA, Cornell University, and Ab Initio. At Ab Initio he built complex and innovative data processing systems, first for Fortune 500 companies in the US and later in Europe, before introducing these technologies to the Indonesian market, which enabled him to split his time between Jakarta and Ithaca.

But Wilson is best remembered as a passionate lover of opera and classical music, a connoisseur of fine French wine, a talented cook, an avid gardener, biker, and sailor, and a lifelong learner who could often be found delving into complex physics problems or explanations of the structure of the universe. His gratitude for the educational opportunities he received transformed into a commitment to creating similar chances for others. Over the years he and Abby supported the education of half-brothers, nieces, nephews, and other young Indonesians. Wilson was an exceptionally generous and kind person, and above all, he was a loving husband, father, and friend whose unusual sense of humor and occasional antics brought laughter and joy to those around him.

In 2020, Wilson experienced a life-threatening stroke that left him largely paralyzed on the left side of his body. Despite several serious health complications and setbacks, Wilson’s fighting spirit—and a lot of physical and occupational therapy and support from Abby, his daughters, and caregivers—enabled him to regain the ability to walk short distances. In recent years he had even engaged in adaptive rock climbing, biking, kayaking, and horseback riding. He also joined a new community of fellow stroke survivors at the Ithaca College Center for Life Skills, virtually through a number of support groups, and through the annual summer Stroke Camp hosted by the United Stroke Alliance.

Wilson is survived by his wife Abby, his daughters Tamara Manik-Perlman, and Hannah and Sarah Cohn-Manik as well as his siblings and half-siblings, and their extended families in Indonesia.

Celebration of Life Event

Here is the media from the event:

- Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1c62WE_FioQl5PgatlO8hEdLqzXhvSO4v1S1WGU9Dfqs
- Video Clips: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IldLzNjeh3quou6WreRWXztzeOgkczYXuVuext3c4i4
- Video recording of the event: www.youtube.com/watch?v=StluamgGJ5c

Timeline

Gallery

Videos

Memory wall

April 1, 2026

It was May or June 1976 when I met Wilson. I was in the “guinea-pig” Advanced Indonesian Program at IKIP Malang and he was a teacher’s assistant. Friendship bloomed and he invited me to visit his “kampung halaman” on Samosir Island after commencement of the program. Unfortunately, at the last minute, he had to cancel his visit to his family but I went on with a friend and the week I spent as Wilson’s family’s home became one of the most longest-lasting and beloved memories I have to this day. In the first photo, taken at IKIP Malang, I am in the lower row, third person from the right; Wilson is in the upper row, second from the right. The second photo is of J.J. Manik, Wilson’s father, taken when I was staying at his home on Samosir. The third is the congregation of Sibatu-batu Catholic Church in Sangkal, Samosir. Wilson’s father and his (second) wife, Dominar Sidabalol, are standing in front of the left pillar of the doorway. The fourth photo is of Wilson’s family, including his father, his step-mother, his brother Martinus, and his half siblings.

John McGlynn

November 5, 2025

I'm sorry I can't be there with you all on Saturday to celebrate Wilson's life. Instead I'm sharing a few photos from 1978 when I met Wilson in Malang through John Wolff's language course. One weekend a group of us stayed on Pulau Sempu. I also used to hang out with Wilson, Hotman, and Wilson's foster-nephew, who became well known as the boxer Thomas Amerigo. Wilson and I used to take long rides on my Honda Bebek motorcycle, including round a flooded Semeru. In December we travelled to Samosir for him to visit his father, step-mother and step-brothers. Later, in 1980, Wilson sent me a photo of Tamara aged two weeks. The photos illustrate these very special memories.

Felicia Hughes-Freeland

Plant a Tree in Wilson's Memory