Densho Digital Archive - Sumiye Takeno Interview (denshovh-tsumiye-01-0017)

<Begin Segment 17>

RP: Let's talk about how you met Roy. You said that your... he came to...

ST: No, I was going to leave for Lincoln, Nebraska.

RP: You were going to go to nursing school.

ST: And then my father said, "No, we have somebody for you that we want you to meet." And I met him and then we went for walks around the camp several times. And I thought well, I guess, it's okay.

RP: Now, had you heard about this guy before you met him? Did you know who he was?

ST: I, yes, because he was a reports officer in camp so I used to... I knew his name, but I never met him. And he used to come around the hospital to get some news, things like that. I've seen him, but never talked to him.

RP: From what, from what Karen told me earlier, Roy had not shown any inclination to get married whatsoever. And so his parents decided to, to push him along a little bit and they hired this family friend, baishakunin, to try to find him...

ST: Uh-huh, yeah, well...

RP: You became, you were the key prospect.

ST: Well, I was the person that they suggested. And I thought, my gosh. He's a camp reports officer. They must have... you know there're a lot of women, I used to hear, that were interested in him. And I thought how, why me? And I thought about it and I thought about it, I thought maybe, maybe I shouldn't say yes. But as I took several walks with him, talk about family. He seemed to have a good family. So then I consented. And I never regret it. [Laughs]

RP: Well let's... I'd like to talk a little bit about the marriage.

ST: Yes.

RP: Where... who married you?

ST: Reverend... he was Japanese minister. Gosh, the name doesn't come out right now. He was a Japanese minister.

RP: And where were you married?

ST: In the camp.

RP: But, was there a Methodist church in the camp or...

ST: Yes. We had a Methodist church. So we were married in the Methodist. And of course his family was a very long Methodist family. Strong, strong... his grandfather started the Methodist movement in Hokkaido. So when I heard all that, I thought, well, I can't go wrong. [Laughs]

RP: So tell us a little bit about the wedding day. You had, did you have some of your close friends as attendants or...

ST: Oh, yes. I just had my... let's see, my sister for an attendant. Just one attendant. And we had, I had a traditional wedding gown and veil and everything. No, it was a very nice, I thought it was a very nice wedding.

RP: And so how did you get your wedding gown? Did you make it or...

ST: Yes. The lady there was a seamstress whom I knew so she made it. And the veil and everything. So...

RP: And who was Roy's best man?

ST: I think it was his brother from -- not I think -- it was Ken from, his younger brother. He came from Salt Lake City to be his attendant. So that was nice, too. So, and... who, who was my attendant?

RP: You said it was your sister?

ST: I think my sister, yeah. And we just decided to have one attendant. Clothes were kinda hard in the camp. So...

RP: And how about a reception afterwards?

ST: Uh-huh. So we had... everybody was sitting there so we just had refreshments passed out, while they were all sitting there.

RP: Did you have a cake?

ST: Yes, cake and the whole thing.

RP: Everything.

ST: Uh-huh. Yeah, and I thought it was... it's too bad we didn't have a table, but there's no facility for that. So, I thought it was...

RP: So you must have had, you must have had all your friends and neighbors from Florin...

ST: Uh-huh, yes. Practically my whole block.

RP: Block 30.

ST: Not whole block, a lot of my same block friends. Yeah, the church was full.

RP: That's a joyful occasion.

ST: Uh-huh, yeah.

RP: In a place like Manzanar.

ST: And, and because he didn't have a family there, it was smaller. My family is so big.

RP: His parents, were Roy's parents in the camp, too?

ST: Parents?

RP: Roy's parents, were they in the camp?

ST: No. They, they were in Salt Lake City.

RP: Did they come...

ST: Yeah, so they didn't have to evacuate.

RP: Okay. But they came to the wedding, I assume.

ST: Yes. They came to the wedding. No, my father-in-law couldn't because he had a heart condition. So my mother-in-law came.

RP: I guess that's the first time you met 'em.

ST: Yes, that's right. And I thought, "Oh, I'd better behave myself." [Laughs] She, she was a school teacher and pretty proper person. But very nice.

RP: Right, you're definitely under the microscope in those situations.

ST: Uh-huh.

RP: Yeah.

ST: So, because I was not a college graduate, I was very self-conscious. And I did even tell my husband that before. I said, "You know I'm not a college graduate and I don't know how your parents would think about me."

RP: What did he say?

ST: Huh? He said. "If I were worried about that I wouldn't have even asked you." So they get me, gave me a confidence. He was just taking me as I am. So... and our marriage lasted, what, forty-eight years, something like that. No, fifty-four years.

RP: Yeah.

ST: That's right. We celebrated our fiftieth and he had a massive heart attack at, when he was eighty-four. Yeah, that, that was a shock.

RP: And then a week later you left camp?

ST: A week later... what did you say?

RP: A week after your marriage you left camp?

ST: Uh-huh. Let's see... what happened. You mean after I married him?

RP: Right, how long was it before you went to Denver?

ST: Oh, one week.

RP: One week?

ST: Uh-huh. One week. It, it takes that long for us to get permission and everything.

RP: And Roy had told you that he had plans to...

ST: Yeah, and he already had a job here at the Rocky Shimpo. So, he had to be there a certain time so I had to hurry. I wasn't prepared for that, but it was, you know, in a camp you don't have much to take care anyway.

RP: So how did you feel about... you had just gotten married and now you're going to Denver?

ST: Well, you know, the excitement is there. Just married. I hated to leave the family but once you're married you can't think of the family. So, no, I... it wasn't hard. It was sort of exciting.