<Begin Segment 20>

TI: So where did you go to college?

LI: University of Oregon.

TI: And what was your degree?

LI: In education. And then I finished off at Marylhurst. So I keep telling my kids I'm a Catholic duck. [Laughs]

TI: A Catholic duck, that's funny. That's good. So are you a big fan of University of Oregon?

LI: Oh, of course.

TI: It's so hard, because I'm a Husky.

LI: Oh, I see. [Laughs]

TI: I know, you feel sorry for me, I know.

LI: My three kids went to Oregon and one went to Linfield. But anyway...

TI: And so you got married in 1952, and so tell me about your family, your children. How many children did you have?

LI: Let's see. (Michael's) the eldest, and I have four all told. And he's going to be sixty sometime in May, right? And I can't believe he's got white hair and he's my kid. [Laughs]

TI: Okay, so sixty, so that means he came along a little bit after...

LI: Our first anniversary.

TI: Did you ever teach or anything with your degree?

LI: Yes, as soon as I was out of college I taught for a year, and then my sister-in-law had a baby about the same time that he was born, and so she would take care of him while I taught my second year. And then after I had my daughter, then I stopped, because I had two more after that. But I did go back when my youngest one was, I don't know, the second grade or something, I went back to substituting, and I did that for about fifteen years. But after that, I never got papers. [Laughs]

TI: So, Lilly, we zoomed through your life in a little more than two hours, which is way too fast. But I wanted to just ask, in looking back at your life, I mean, if you were to think generations later, and maybe it's your great-great-grandchildren or something, what do you think is important in life? Given what you've been through in your life, and all the twists and turns that we just listened to, what do you think is important?

LI: As long as my children are happy and happily married, and I have eight grandchildren, I don't have any greats yet, but I'm hoping. I had a good life with Fred. He graduated from Oregon, too, a couple years before. One reason I came back to Portland to go to Marylhurst was because we were engaged already. And we went on many, many trips all over the world, and so I was very grateful for that. And when he did pass (a show five years) ago almost, he had a major stroke (...). His mother had, his sister had a stroke. [Interruption] But we had a very happy life, and so I'm very grateful for (my life).

TI: Yeah, it seems like the sense of family has really been important to you. And in many cases, having both sets of grandparents, knowing them, and your parents, it seemed like there was a strong sense of family.

LI: Yes, lot of connections.

TI: Well, thank you so much for the interview.

LI: Oh, my goodness, you're welcome. I hope it wasn't too boring.

TI: Oh, no, this was fun. I really enjoyed it.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.