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MA: And you... tell me about your husband and how you met him.

GK: How we met? Oh, okay. We met at a meeting of the JACL. And so it turned out that he and I lived about four blocks from each other near the University of Chicago. So we got to see each other quite often, and we started dating, I guess for about two years. And then we were married in one of the chapels at the University of Chicago. And Shig Wakamatsu was the best man, and Toshie Suyama was my matron of honor, and it was very nice.

MA: And tell me a little bit about his background and where he was from.

GK: Well, he was born in Sheridan, Wyoming. And then when he was about six years old, the family moved to Seattle. So he actually grew up in Seattle, (and) he went to grammar school and high school and started at the University of Washington. He was a sophomore when the evacuation order came. So his education was interrupted. He and his mother were sent to a temporary camp called "Camp Harmony."

MA: Right, Puyallup, in Puyallup.

GK: You're right. So they went there, but they were there for only two months because Eugene had written to a friend of his in Wyoming, it's a Japanese friend, and asked him if there were any opportunities that they could live there. So the answer came back, "Yes, come on over." So he and his mother left the Puyallup Fairgrounds and then they went to Sheridan. But then they weren't there too long, because then he applied to the University of Nebraska, because he wanted to continue his education. So they were accepted, he and his brother. (Gene) got his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Nebraska. And then he came on up to Chicago and he was working toward his doctorate there.

MA: And then you met?

GK: Right, right.

MA: So you married in Chicago but then did not stay in Chicago too long, right? You ended up moving to New York?

GK: That's right. Right after we got married, Gene was already working in New York. So then right after we were married, we left for New York.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.