Kazuko Yamamoto Tu

Kazuko Yamamoto Tu, of Fort Collins, age 85 passed away on December 16, 2012. Kaz was born August 16, 1927 in Hanford, California to Fujitaro and Mitsuye Yamamoto. The Yamamoto family prospered running a laundromat and restaurants in the San Joaquin Valley of California until World War II disrupted their lives. Kaz spent her high school years behind barbed wire in internment camps in Fresno, California May 1942, Jerome, AR 1942-1944 and Rohwer, AR 1944-45. She graduated from Rohwer Center High School in 1945. Following the war she graduated from the University of California-Berkeley in 1950 with a degree in Public Health. She worked as a Medical Technologist at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA for 11 years. In 1957, she married Anthony T. Tu in San Mateo, CA. The Tu family moved to Fort Collins in 1967. She was an active member of the Toastmistress Club in Fort Collins and was active in local politics. She also served as a personal ambassador to help school children understand what she said was a terrible mistake the U.S. Government made when it detained Japanese-Americans during World War II due to fear and mistrust. She loved to read books, travel and be with her family. She was a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother, and will be deeply missed. Kaz Tu is survived by her husband, Anthony T. Tu professor emeritus of Biochemistry at Colorado State University; her five children, Marcia Tu Bernstein Scott of New York, NY, Janice Garbarini Stephen of Boulder, CO, Caroline Tu Farley Shedden of Fort Collins, CO, Kenneth Tu of Denver, CO. and Alan Tu Evelyn of Princeton, NJ; and four grandchildren: Grace Farley, Logan and Brooke Garbarini and Nicole Bernstein. She also is survived by her brothers, Aki Yamamoto Los Altos, CA, Bill Yamamoto and Hisashi Yamamoto Redwood City, CA. A memorial service will be held Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 2 p.m. at Bohlender Funeral Chapel. A spring memorial service will be held at Alta Mesa Cemetery in Palo Alto, CA. for her many friends and family there. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Japanese American National Museum or Mile Hi chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League in care of Bohlender Funeral Chapel, 121 W. Olive, Fort Collins, Colorado 80524.