<Begin Segment 13>

VO: So then as you finished up high school, what was your next step?

EO: Well, of course, we went to the nearby college, the University of Washington, all of us kids went there. In those days, tuition wasn't that high. It's terrible now. I worked part time for this fashion designer/dressmaker, and I could pay for all my tuition and all my books. Of course, I didn't have room and board to pay, so it really wasn't bad. But you can't do that anymore, tuition is so high.

VO: And what did you study?

EO: I studied home economics. I wanted to be a fashion designer, so I was majoring in clothing and textiles. Then our home ec. dean, she wanted all of us to go into education, so that's what I did. I switched my major and I went into education, home ec. education. I had a minor in... it was really funny, when I went to this counselor, she said, "Well, you have to have a minor. Okay, you have all these classes in art. Oh, you have a class in music. Okay, your minor is music and art." [Laughs] So that was my minor. That was funny.

VO: And what do you remember of those college years?

EO: Oh, I had a good time. We had a Japanese women's organization, and so in those days you couldn't get into a sorority. Not that I wanted to, but there was discrimination. So we had our own club. We called ourselves the Valedas, and we met regularly and had socials. The men had a house called SYNKOA, so we'd have socials with them.

VO: And the temple was then back?

EO: Yes.

VO: And did your father continue in that leadership role?

EO: Yes, for a long time.

VO: So how long did he stay in...

EO: I think it was nine years, can't remember the exact date. But anyway, he had to retire. He retired early, when he was about fifty-six, because he was legally blind, he had diabetes, and it went to his eyes, so he retired early. And I still say it's because he drank too much. You know, in those days, when he went out for services, you know, they'd feed him and they'd insist that he drink, you know what I mean? You know how the Japanese are. And he would never say no. So I really think he didn't watch his health. It just went to his eyes and he was legally blind, so he retired.

VO: And did he live long after that?

EO: Yeah, I think he lived to be sixty-five. So I think once in a while he'd go and help at the temple. But no, his health just got the best of him.

VO: And your mother lived quite a long time.

EO: Yes. So then after my dad died, I said, "Mom, why don't you come down and babysit for me?" [Laughs] Because I had all these kids and I was trying to work. And so she came, and she lived with us for almost thirty years. She lived a long life. So we built a little apartment for her attached to our house, which is being used by different people.

VO: So actually we'll go back then. So when, so you graduated in home economics education.

EO: Uh-huh, from the UW.

VO: And so you were planning to teach?

EO: Yes, I did my practice teaching at Roosevelt High School. So the first... and then I got married right after graduation, like a week after graduation, and so my husband was still going to school at Pacific University at Forest Grove. So I went down there and I got a job teaching. Actually, the first year, I did civil service work for the health department, the Oregon Health Department in Portland, and then the second year I was able to get a job teaching in Forest Grove. And I'm sure I was the first non-white to teach in Forest Grove. [Laughs] It was a pretty much white community.

VO: Because it's, for people who don't know, it's a small city west of Portland, little college town.

EO: College town, definitely.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.