Original Issue Date: May 11, 1967
Translated by Yurino Oguro
The North American Post
As the North American Post reported, the Japanese American Citizens League Seattle Chapter decided to begin awarding a “Mother of The Year” this year. The first honoree is Mrs. Haruko Tokita, who received the award on May 9.
Tokita, who lives at 303 22nd Avenue South, Seattle, lost her husband in 1948 and raised eight children from two to 13 years old alone. She struggled with poverty but did not want any financial support that could affect the children’s future, so she worked very hard to provide for them herself. Now, all the children have received a college education and two of them are serving the U.S. Air Force as a major and captain. Her third son studied aeronautical engineering and her daughters graduated from the University Washington’s interior decoration department. The fourth son is a junior in the UW Medical School and the fifth son is an education major, also at UW.
The awards committee includes Tad Yamaguchi, Tak Kubota, James Matsuoka, Hirataro Hikita and Min Tsubota. According to the committee, it was very difficult to choose between the many candidates. This award will be presented annually.
