Please post photos, remembrances, and stories of Yone. We also know she had a sharp tongue, please share any of her quips and insights.
OBITUARY
Yoneko Hara passed peacefully surrounded by family in her home Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019. She was born in 1922 in Portland as Yoneko Inuzuka. As a second generation Japanese American (Nisei), she was one of the 120,000 people of Japanese descent whose lives are historically memorialized in a troubling chapter in American history. She and her six siblings were raised in S.E. Portland helping their immigrant parents run their family floral... see moreYoneko Hara passed peacefully surrounded by family in her home Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019. She was born in 1922 in Portland as Yoneko Inuzuka. As a second generation Japanese American (Nisei), she was one of the 120,000 people of Japanese descent whose lives are historically memorialized in a troubling chapter in American history. She and her six siblings were raised in S.E. Portland helping their immigrant parents run their family floral business, Nippon and Inuzuka Florist. She attended Kellogg Elementary School and graduated from Franklin High School in 1940.
On Dec. 7, 1941, her life was upended when her father was separated from his family and taken by the FBI to several internment camps. A few months later, the rest of her family was incarcerated at the Minidoka Internment Camp in Idaho. Eventually, Yoneko and her sister Yaeko were allowed to work in Denver where they contributed their earnings towards payments that saved their family home while their parents remained in camp until 1945 and 1946.
In 1951 she married George S. Hara who became a physician and together they raised five kids in N.E. Portland until 1966 when they moved their family to a wooded property with room for teenagers. She and George created a family home where speaking honestly and living freely was encouraged. Yone believed in preserving her cultural heritage and passed forward family history and Japanese American traditions. Her political awareness was informed by her internment and dedication to MSNBC. She was resourceful with an instinct for business balanced against a strong aesthetic sensibility. She kept books for George’s medical practice and contributed to the family through her side interest in real estate.
She was a talented seamstress; her kids took pride in her prom dresses and school clothing over store bought. Her hobbies included knitting, spinning wool, weaving rugs and Japanese flower arranging. Her design eye was sharp and you’d know when to pay attention when she’d say, “Yeah, that’s different.”
She survived skiing with her kids and found her passion for golf. She was an enthusiastic member of the Oregon Nisei Women’s Golf Club. She and George shared golf adventures and the camaraderie of lifelong golfing friends.
Yone was a nurturer. She was known for her white hair, easy manner and mischievous sense of humor. People enjoyed her company and the unexpected “zingers” she tossed. She was generous in spirit, time and the advice she shared with her kids, grandkids and friends. Time was marked by the events she hosted at her home where food, drink, laughter and barking dogs prevailed.
After George passed in 2013, she had the grit and luck to renew herself at 90 by becoming a member of a community of like-minded friends in her Move It and Senior Tai Chi classes at the Friendly House Community Center.
By any measure, Yone passes forward her legacy of caring for others to those she touched and nurtured.
She is survived by her children and their spouses, John (Anita), Leslie (John), Nancy (Paul), George (Nathan) and Phyllis (Andrew); and her nine grandchildren, Peter, Adam, Rader, Nicholas (Ciera), Evan, Olivia, Natalie, George and Louie; and her beloved dog, Chip.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, at South Campus Chapel, Lewis & Clark College, 1015 S.W. Palatine Hill Rd., (Gate 7), Portland. Remembrances to: Friendly House Community Center, Ikoi no Kai or Ride Connection.
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