Asae (Oyabu) Yamamoto (Poston
219-8-AB) was born in May 1907 in Japan, the only daughter born to Fusakichi Kinoshita and Tokue Oyabu. She immigrated to the United States in 1922.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the signing of Executive Order 9066,
Asae’s husband, Naozo Yamamoto, a farm laborer who had immigrated from Japan in
1907, was picked up by the FBI as a “suspect alien” and incarcerated at the
Department of Justice internment camp in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Asae Yamamoto
and her six daughters (ages 6-14 years), were evacuated from their home in Salinas, California, to the
Salinas Assembly Center. They were
transported by train and incarcerated at the Poston, Arizona concentration camp
2, and arrived on June 30, 1942. Naozo Yamamoto was granted parole and joined his family at Poston on
August 1, 1942. The girls attended school at Poston camp 2.
The entire Yamamoto family left Poston, Arizona on August 30,
1945 and went to Bridgeton, New Jersey to for work at the Seabrook Farms. Asae
Yamamoto worked many years in the Packing Department, and was a member of the Deerfield
Presbyterian Church, Seabrook Christian Church, and the Seabrook J.A.C.L. She was a great cook who loved to work in her garden, adept at crocheting, knitting and sewing, and a
devoted Philadelphia Phillies fan.
Asae Yamamoto,
108, of Elmer, New Jersey, died on June 22, 2015. She was preceded in death by her
husband, Naozo Yamamoto (1983); daughter, Esther Ono; grandsons, Russell Ono, Gregory
Ono; infant granddaughter, Karen Taniguchi; and sons-in-law, Masaaki Ono, James
Sakamoto, Yuji Sawamura, and Shigeo Sawamura. She is survived by her daughters, Nancy Sakamoto, Frances
Sawamura, Alice Sawamura, Grace (Jim) Taniguchi, and Mae (Sam) Hashimoto; 9
grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren and 7 great great grandchildren.
Source:
http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/southjerseytimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=175155892
