Youko Yamasaki

Youko “Yo” Yamasaki was born on March 5th, 1926 to Fudeko and “Stanley” “Pop” Kazuo Yoshimura in Alameda, California. At a very young age she started getting used to raising children, as she was the oldest of thirteen children. Closely following Youko was Reiko (Harry) Shibata, Minoru (June), Satoru, Toshiaki (Jayne), Kanoko Connie (Aki) Kojima , Yoshiko (Johnson) Otera, Michio (Norma), Itsuko (Art) Arita, Kuniko, Masashi (Barbara), Yuichi Roy (Karen), and Miyuki Mabel (Tom) Googins.

When President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, the family was moved to the Gila River Relocation Camp for most of the duration of World War II. When detainees were allowed to leave the camp, Yo and Reiko were able to find work in New York. They had graduated high school in camp, and were ready to enter the working world. While they were in New York Governor Ralph Carr invited citizens of Japanese ancestry to move to Colorado, and her father and brother Minoru moved to Colorado to find work. Yo and Reiko met Pop and Min in Brighton and her father, Pop, was able to find work at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver and soon sent for the rest of the family who had remained in camp. The family opened the S.K.Y. Coffee Shop and Bakery on Larimer street on June 1st, 1946 and when Pop’s landscaping business took off, Yo ran the joint for years until they sold the place, exactly 25 years after opening. She then worked at the Denver Postal Credit Union for 20 years.

While at the S.K.Y., she met another person of Japanese ancestry headed back to his family after working in New York after the war. In 1947, Joseph Satoshi Yamasaki was on the train from New York to Los Angeles and had planned to get off the train in Denver for two days. He had a friend from camp (Camp Amache – Granada, Colorado) who lived in Denver and he planned to stay with him as a short break from the long train ride. His friend took him to the S.K.Y. and after meeting Yo, he never got back on that train. They were married on January 2nd, 1950 and had six children. Rick (Martha), Scott (Julie), Jody, Karen (Danny) Yamamoto, Susan (Jay) Yoshimura, and Kent (Kelly). Yo’s six kids provided her with her most cherished items, her six grandchildren. Kimi (Matt) Plante, Amy (Jon) Campbell, Kara (Mike) Heller, Joseph Yoshimura, Miles Yamasaki, and Quentin Yamasaki. And her six grandchildren have so far produced seven great-grandchildren. Connor Plante, Max Plante, Sam Plante, Juniper Heller, Sarah Plante, Benjamin Heller and Arthur Campbell.

Yo was highly involved in several community organizations. She was proud of and dedicated to the Tri-State Denver Buddhist Temple, Buddhist Women’s Association, The Denver Central Optimists, The Japan America Society, The Commerce City Novel Bunch, Denver Bonsai, Nissei Singles Club and Ohara School of Ikebana.

But above all else, Yo loved spending time writing about, cooking for, and talking with her terrific friends and wonderful family. “We can have a cookout in my backyard!” was a phrase that she had uttered more often than we can count. She would love to be a part of any celebration involving those she loved, therefore a Celebration of Life will follow in her memory once we can all safely gather.

No Koden. Thank you.

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