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EK: And I guess, Arlene, if you don't mind introducing yourself and also sharing how you know Elaine.

AO: My name is Arlene Oki and I was raised in Spokane, Washington, where they have a JACL chapter there. My mother was not one of the leaders, but she was always helping with their banquets but didn't attend meetings. My mother was the kind of Nisei woman who was always helping the elderly each day by taking them to the doctor and translating for them. And she was a wonderful mother, but she was also very unhappy because after they got out of camp, she wanted to go back to Los Angeles. They had a very successful, active community in L.A. And my father would not go back. He was so bitter that he didn't want to go back to Los Angeles. So it was sometimes very tense around our house because my mother didn't really want to be in Spokane. Anyway, they were wonderful parents. I feel fortunate that I had such caring parents. They provided for my sister and I very well.

I graduated from high school, Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane and then entered Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing, where I graduated and became a registered nurse. And I went back to college, because I wanted to get a Bachelor of Science degree. So I graduated from Whitworth College and then got married and started having babies. And we moved to Seattle and I was busy raising three kids. They were all born within a period of three years, so I was really busy. But as they got into school, I got more involved with school activities, and became very concerned about the quality of education my children were receiving in the south end of Seattle, so I became active there, and somehow I got to know people in the community, and was asked to join JACL -- not actually join JACL -- work for JACL as their recording secretary. And so it was then that I started become involved with JACL.

And I met Elaine many years later, I had been involved with JACL for quite a few years. And then she came and she was like a bright spark because she was so knowledgeable of organizations all across the country. And I found her to be extremely well-organized. And she was able to lead quietly, not arrogantly, she was just a quiet, stable, well organized leader. And we also roomed together at many conventions, and I enjoyed it. And I was always so impressed that everybody knew her and respected her so much. And she was, in a way, kind of a good role model for me, because I had just been a housewife. And although I... once I started working, I started getting involved politically and worked on many campaigns. And one of the campaigns I worked on was a campaign for Mayor Royer. He won the election, and I became a special assistant, and was with him for almost six years, then went to a department because I wanted to work -- well, he needed someone to work on the incoming problems with the Southeast Asian refugees. So I spent most of my career working with refugees and felt very... it was a satisfying job, but JACL was also something that was a constant in my life. And Elaine was a constant in my life, we would sometimes have dinner and share personal experiences and also grievances. But she remained a good friend throughout her life. I feel very fortunate to have been able to work with her.

EK: Thank you, Arlene.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.