Densho Digital Archive - Mae Hada Interview (denshovh-hmae

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Masako H: Okay. You talked about your children. Ronald, who is your oldest, what does he do?

Mae H: He... okay. During, what year would it be? He went to university, Pacific University for a while. It didn't agree with him. I think he was not mature enough maybe. I don't know what, but my grade school teachers for him told me that he's very intelligent, but he's a little bit immature for his age. So I took it that that must be the reason why he didn't work out too well; although, he was the smartest of my four children. So Dad suggested he go sign up for air force which he did, and I think he thrived on that. And he was assigned to some bases in the East and eventually ended up in New Jersey. And when he was relieved of how many years, I forgot he spent in there, three years maybe, he met a sister of a friend that worked with him. He got a job in some factory. I can't remember what it was. He met her, and they were married there. And he's never come back to the West Coast. He's the only one, but I visited them in Ohio. And then the next, the daughter, Judy, she's the only one of my children that knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to be a teacher. When we first moved here, she'd get all the neighborhood kids together and play school. So she's very successful as a teacher in Newberg, Oregon, and almost ready to retire. And Laura met her future husband at Oregon State and, Paul Tamura, and I can't remember the dates well. But eventually, they were married, and they still live near Eugene. And in Eugene, and they have a daughter that is still down there. They only had one child. Judy had two children, uh-huh. Okay. And then I told you about Laura. But they are the only two Japanese descendants that were married in my family. The others, Ronny was married to a Puerto Rican girl, and Laura is a Tamura, and Judy is an Elliot. He also teaches; that's how they met. And Victor is the one that's closest that lives near me here in Forest Grove, Oregon, and he had lots of problems. And I won't go deep into that, but John and I had a hard time with him. But he is now well settled and with a third partner who brought children. And so I've all of a sudden have many grandchildren and step-grandchildren.

Masako H: You know, the name Victor rings a bell for me. Did John have a brother named Victor?

Mae H: Yes.

Masako H: Okay. What happened?

Mae H: He was drafted during World War II at the tender age of twenty. I think that's pretty young. And he was shipped to Europe, and he was a member of the famous 442. And he was in Italy approaching a mountain, as I understand it. Of course, I heard it secondhand, but he was hit by a mortar and killed instantly. Now, if he had lived, he would be my age because, yeah, he was same age at the time. He was married for maybe less than a month, and he was drafted, and then he was gone. So his poor widow, she has since remarried, but I feel sorry for Victor. He didn't get to live a full life. So we named my Victor after him, yeah.

Masako H: Did you work when you got back to Hillsboro?

Mae H: Not immediately, but I did a few jobs like sales, so I could be home when the kids got home, you know. And this is direct sales, and I enjoyed that because I enjoy people. And I only would sell what I really believed in. But eventually, my friends said, "Mae, you should get a solid job, so you'll have a pension when you get older," so okay. So I applied to the State, and I ended up working for a supervisor in my own town who worked in the employment office. Oh, good, it was only five minutes from home. I like that. So I learned their ropes in the employment department, and I enjoyed that because I like to talk to people, interview them. And I think I did a pretty good job of that, and that's what I retired from.

Masako H: When did your husband pass away, then? It's been how long?

Mae H: Well, he had heart problems starting in 1988. He had to have heart surgery bypass. He did not completely recover. Until it was over with, he was very old, well, he was old, but he was very tired and not energetic, not too interested in doing much. Gradually, his memory deteriorated. He developed Alzheimer's.