Sayonara

HIROYUKI KITA (FF ’13–’20) passed away suddenly on July 4, 2020 at the age of 42. Hiro, who taught Japanese at ASIJ, and his wife Virginia had returned to Nagasaki prefecture, which is where Hiro grew up, during ASIJ’s summer break. Hiro was diving and fishing with childhood friends, while Virgina stayed with his family in his hometown. While diving, Hiro was separated from his friends, who were unable to locate him. Following a search-and-rescue mission, Hiro’s body was found the following morning. He had drowned while spearfishing. Hiro is survived by his wife, Virginia Kita who teaches Spanish at ASIJ.

Hiro received his BA in education from Saitama University, which he attended on a soccer scholarship to play on the university’s team for four years. After beginning his teaching career in Japan at Kakeduka Elementary School in Shibuya, where he received the Teacher of the Year Award, Hiro moved to Vancouver, Canada in 2005 to pursue a TESOL certification. Following that he moved to Fort Wayne to pursue a MSc in elementary education at Indiana University–Purdue University. While studying for his master’s, Hiro ran the local Japanese Saturday School. On his return to Japan, he taught at several schools including New International School of Japan.

Hiro initially joined ASIJ in 2011 as a middle school Japanese teacher, covering a maternity leave, before becoming a full-time member of the faculty in 2013. He began teaching in the Elementary School’s Japanese department and later moved to teach in the High school. Hiro was an enthusiastic and popular teacher both in the classroom and as a soccer coach on the field. He was known as a happy, generous colleague and friend and valued member of the ASIJ community.

“He was a great man, teacher, coach, and husband, and always a positive, optimistic, and happy person. I recall he had his first ASIJ experiences with us in the MS division when I was the Principal,” wrote Scott Adams (FF ’05–’17). “I knew right away he was a naturally-gifted teacher, one who developed warm, supportive relationships with students and colleagues. He was a supportive, caring colleague, too, and made you a better person because of having worked with him.”

THEODORE BELL ’57 born in Shanghai on January 11, 1941, passed away on July 8, 2020. He moved to Tokyo, Japan with his family in 1950, attending ASIJ 1952–57. After graduation, Ted attended UC Berkeley, completing law school at Boalt Hall in 1964. In 1963 he met and married Barbara, and the couple made Los Angeles their permanent home. Ted opened his own law practice there and became an American citizen in 1967. The couple had four children.

ROBERT (BOB) CHEN ’55, husband of Aie Teck Lau and brother of William Chen ’56 and Moon Chen, Jr. passed away on October 14, 2020, at the age of 82. A thirdgeneration Chinese American, Bob attended the University of Michigan for his undergraduate degree and MBA, and served honorably as an infantry platoon leader, paratrooper, and Captain in the US Army. Following his military service, Bob built a successful career in finance as an M&A investment banker in Singapore and New York. From 1957 onwards, Bob served as a respected member of the F.F. Fraternity, the oldest Chinese-American fraternal organization in the United States. Bob was co-founder and managing director of Raffles Capital Group, Inc and an active member of the Second Congregational Church in Greenwich, serving as a deacon and council member. In recent years, Bob worked tirelessly to help pass bipartisan legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal Award to WWII veterans of Chinese-American descent.

ROBYN GREER HALLOCK ’76

passed away on October 2, 2020. Robyn was born in Greenwich, CT, on January 30, 1958, joining her two brothers, W. Kirk Greer ’71 and John Greer ’73. When her father John’s job with IBM required a move to Tokyo, Japan in 1970, the family went along. Robyn spent her three middle school years at ASIJ. After graduating from Greenwich High School in 1976, Robyn attended Skidmore College in Saratoga, NY, where she earned her degree in psychology and education in 1980. She began her career as a teacher, but soon switched to the travel industry. Among her many achievements, Robyn was elected as President of the Corporate Travel Council, and President of the Connecticut/Westchester Business Travel Association, earning the Corporate Business Travel Service Award along the way. She is survived by her spouse and partner of 26 years, David, her daughter Sarah, and her brothers.

JOHN S. HSIA ’57 of Columbus, Ohio, passed peacefully at First Community Village on July 27, 2020 at the age of 81. John was born in Shanghai, China on December 16, 1938. He recalled that: “When Mao Tse-Tung’s Red Army advanced toward Shanghai, chaos was rampant. Our mother pulled us out of school in Shanghai as wild stories of brutalities committed by the advancing troops of the conquering forces generated panic. Father was in Japan on one of his business trips and advised us to go to Hong Kong, then a British protectorate, to await visas to Japan. The ship that carried us from Shanghai to Hong Kong was said to be the last legal ship out. It was a wonder that it didn’t sink. It was completely full, with passengers positioned everywhere, on virtually any available empty space. We remained in Hong Kong for several months before exit visas to Japan came through to take us to Tokyo.”

John and several of his siblings attended St. Joseph’s College in Yokohama before he and his sister Nancy ’62 transferred to ASIJ. John would go on to join one of his older brothers at Brown University in the United States following graduation. There he enrolled in the engineering program, before switching to a five-year dual-degree program which would lead to bachelor’s of both arts and science. After Brown, he studied theoretical mathematics at MIT, receiving his doctorate in 1966, before accepting a position as an assistant professor of mathematics at Ohio State University. He was promoted to a full professorship in 1976. John’s research was focused on Number Theory, a classical branch of abstract mathematics that has contemporary applications in communication and information technology. Much of his research work, which is published in over 50 papers in internationally-recognized journals in mathematics, was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency. In addition to his own research, he edited volumes of conference proceedings and served on the editorial boards of leading journals in his field.

SHIRLEY E. HUSKINS (AP

’62–’67) passed away suddenly on December 27, 2019. Shirley arrived in Tokyo in 1955, with her husband, William E. Huskins, Jr., who worked for Northwest Airlines, and her toddler daughter, Deborah ’70. She quickly realized a pre-school was needed, and, with a couple of other parents, founded the Community Nursery School, which continues to this day as ASIJ’s Early Learning Center. In 1958, son William Charles (Charlie) ’76 was born, and they continued to live in Tokyo from 1955–59 and 1961–67. Shirley embraced the cultural opportunities of living in Japan, studying the language, flower arranging, and silk brush painting. On their return to the United States she was a founding member of the JapanAmerica Society of Minnesota, served on the Board of the Normandale Japanese Garden for nearly 40 years, and participated in cultural events in the Twin Cities produced by the St. Paul-Nagasaki Sister City Committee and others. In 2009, she was awarded the Walter F. Mondale Award for Japan-Minnesota Partnership by the Japan America Society of Minnesota. She is survived by her son and daughter and their spouses, three grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

NORMAN LESLIE JENKINS

(AP ’76–’79), father of Lynn ’78, Rick ’82, and Dave ’84, passed away after a short battle with COVID-19 in April 2020. Norman attended Yale University on an ROTC scholarship and after serving in the Navy, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and began a long marketing career with Esso Eastern (later Exxon). His work took his family to Thailand and Japan created opportunities to travel widely in Asia, Europe, and Africa.

RUBY KORVER (AP ’64–’68,

’68–’79), passed away peacefully on June 22, 2020 at the age of 95 in Green Bay, WI. Ruby was born in Tokyo, the oldest daughter of Johannes Barth, a German businessman, and Chiyo Barth, a Japanese national. She spent most of her working life in Japan as a missionary, together with her late husband, Ronald George Korver. Ruby and Ron had four children, all born in Tokyo, who attended ASIJ from kindergarten through graduation: Kathern ’71, Michael ’72, Mark ’77, and Kristy ’79. Ruby is survived by her four children and their spouses, eleven grandchildren, and three greatgranddaughters.

MARILYN LOWE (FF ’71–72), Marilyn Cordon Lowe was born in 1932 in Berkeley, CA, and was an alumna of the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating she embarked on a career in elementary education, teaching in California, Hawaii, West Berlin, Brazil, and Japan. She taught fourth grade at ASIJ for one year in 1971 before returning to the United States. In 2016 she moved to a retirement community in San Francisco, and passed away there peacefully in January 2019.

DOROTHY KIKUE

REDLINGER (AP ’68–81) died peacefully at home on August 7, 2020 from congestive heart failure. She was the mother of George ’78 and Bob ’81 Redlinger. Dorothy began her career working for the Foreign Ministry with the occupying US forces in postwar Tokyo. In 1950, she answered an ad for English speaking staff from a company called International Textiles Incorporated, where she met Oswald Redlinger from Vienna, Austria. They wed in 1953. Following the birth of their sons, Dorothy became an active member of the ASIJ and local community and one of the top women bowlers at the Tokyo American Club. In

1981, Dorothy emigrated with her family to Canada. VICTORIA PRATT YOU ’69 passed away on August 23, 2020. Victoria attended ASIJ from 1964–66 along with her sisters Heather Elisabeth ’77, Allison Pratt ’74, Stephanie Wells’ 65, and her husband Joseph You ’67.

ELAINE SOMMERS RICH (AP

’66–’69, ’72–79) age 94, died peacefully on September 27, 2020 in North Manchester, Indiana. Elaine is survived by her four children Jonathan ’72, Andrew ’73, Miriam ’76, Mark ’80 and six grandchildren. THOMAS J. ROWE JR ’00 of Alexandria, VA died on March 25, 2020, after a brief illness. Thomas was born on May 31, 1982 in Singapore, and subsequently lived in Brussels, London, and Tokyo and Bryn Mawr, PA, before finally settling in the Washington, DC area. He graduated from The Pennsylvania State University, University Park in 2003 with a degree in management science and information systems. Following graduation, he pursued a successful career in computer modeling in the defense industry with Metron Inc. He is survived by his sisters Mary ’04 and Stephanie and their parents Thomas and Marguerite (AP ’98–’00). JAMES H. RYAN ’48, died on September 1, 2019 aged 88. He attended ASIJ for two years in 1946–48 along with his sister Martha ’53. James graduated from the West Point US Military Academy in 1955 and was commissioned in the Infantry. He served in combat in both the Korean and Vietnam wars and was decorated seven times for bravery and meritorious service in combat. As a Lt. Colonel, he was assigned to the office of the chief of personnel on the Army General Staff in the Pentagon where he was awarded the Legion of Merit. Jim retired from the Army in 1972 and went to work in his brother’s worldwide business for a few years; after that he took over a small security guard agency in the Washington, D.C. area. He earned an MA at the University of Pennsylvania in both English Language and English Literature and spent three years teaching English and formal logic at West Point. He attended Harvard Business School, completed an MBA from George Washington University and finished work for his PhD. Jim served on the International Board of Governors of the USO (United Services Organization) for nine years. In 1993 he was elected President of The International Association of Professional Security Consultants, President of the Historic Petersburg Foundation and President of the Rotary Club of Petersburg, Virginia. Jim wrote articles on security in a variety of publications, and was admitted as a forensic expert witness in both state and Federal courts. He wrote articles and lectured on Petersburg and Virginia history. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award

of Rotary International. JACOB SHAPIRO ’47 passed away on July 15, 2020 at the age of 92. He is survived by his wife Teruko, and his three daughters Hanako, Akiko, and Yasuko.

Jacob was born Yakov Konstantinovich Shapiro and was born on August 26, 1928, in Harbin China. His family moved to Yokohama in 1929 and he attended various schools including Waseda Kokusai Gakuin, a school for foreigners and children of expatriates who had returned to Japan. In 1946 Jacob entered the Tokyo American School and graduated in 1947. Jacob went on to study at the Peers’ School University (Gakushûin Daigaku) in Tokyo, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1958.

During his university days, Jacob also dabbled in the import-export business, at which he succeeded admirably, enabling the family to immigrate to America, although he did not follow until 1960, when he moved first to New York as an executive trainee in the International Division of Columbia Pictures, returning to Tokyo in 1961 as Assistant General Manager for Columbia in Japan. In 1965 he became Columbia’s General Manager in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This first experience in the film business was to determine the rest of his career. Jacob returned yet again to Japan in 1968 as Columbia’s General Manager in Japan. In 1981 he moved to 20th Century Fox where he became Vice President for the Far East and Australasia.

JUN TAKAMURA (AP ’01–’03) father of Kei Takamura ’03 passed away in 2017. He is survived by his daughter and his wife, Midori.

LOUISE PICON SHIMIZU ’64

passed away on April 27, 2020 at her home in North Bethesda, MD, after a threeyear battle with cancer. Born on July 5, 1947 in Arlington, VA, Louise attended ASIJ between 1960–64 along with her siblings William ’66 and Ellen ’62. She is survived by her husband Masaharu and their children Edowa, Thomas, and Ken, their partners, and her grandchildren.

DAWNA VOYLES SPRUIELL ’49 passed away on May 16, 2019 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. She attended Narimasu High School for her senior year in Tokyo and stayed connected to ASIJ when Narimasu closed. She went on to Southeastern Louisiana University, where she was awarded Phi Kappa Phi. She married Franklin Spruiell and followed him in his career in coaching, cheering on the Terrebonne Tigers before he moved to the Louisiana High School Athletic Association where he served as commissioner and she worked in the office. Dawna is survived by her daughter, Dawnette Shelton and her son, Franklin Spruiell, Jr.

JOHN MORTON VAN SCHOONHOVEN (FF ’60–’61)

passed away on December 21, 2012. He was born in Cove, OR, in 1928 and his education began in a one-room Shanghai School, and was completed with a Doctorate in Education from the University of Oregon. He served as principal at a school in Milton-Freewater and later as Elementary Principal at ASIJ. He was later selected to serve as principal of Greenbelt Center Elementary School. The school became a model for providing after-school care to at-risk children and was also selected by the US Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School.

ALFRED “AL” F. WARE (AP

’71–’74), died November 3, 2020 at the age of 93 after a short illness in Franklin, TN. Al earned his bachelor’s degree from the West Virginia University College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences in 1950 and his master’s degree in speech/communications from WVU in 1952. While in college Ware was a member of Delta Tau Delta, served as Cadet Colonel of Army ROTC, was captain of the Men’s varsity debate team and letterman in both cross country and track. In 1954, Ware began his professional career in the textile industry. For 20 years his administrative positions included vice president of Manufacturers Hanover Corporation, director of Manufacturers Hanover Trade Corporation, president of Burlington Industries International Division and CEO of Mitsubishi-Burlington, Ltd.

In 1977, Ware and his wife, Dee, formed Amherst International, Inc. He later became managing director of Amherst Fiber Optics, overseeing Amherst markets, fiber optics sales and services, optoelectronics and allied laser products for telecommunications and cable companies. While working in Tokyo, Ware served as chair of ASIJ’s Board of Directors 1973–74 while his sons Brent ’74 and Scot ’76 attended the School. Ware is survived by Brent ’74 and Judy Ware, Scot ’76 and Sharon Ware, as well as nine grandchildren.

JIM WATERHOUSE ’74, passed away July 23, 2020 in Melbourne, FL. He attended ASIJ for two years between 1972–74.