Yaeko Iwahashi Tinsley

Yaeko (Grace) Iwahashi Tinsley passed away at the age of 97 on July 16, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Yaeko was the fourth child and youngest daughter of Konosuke and Junko Iwashashi, born on November 12, 1926, in Kobe, Japan. Yaeko spent her childhood in Kobe until she graduated from high school just before World War II. When the war broke out in Japan, her family moved to Kyushu, where they would remain until the war ended. After the war, Yaeko went to college to become a teacher, but dropped out after just one year. She then went to live with American missionaries, where she met her future husband, Jimmy Tinsley, while he was serving with the U.S. Air Force in Japan. They were married on March 2, 1958. After they married, Jimmy left the Air Force and the couple moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. Later that year, their first daughter, Lou, was born. About six months later, Yaeko and Jimmy moved their family to Austin, Texas. This is where two more daughters would be born, Grace, Yaeko's namesake, and later, Jun, Yaeko's mother's namesake.

As a child in Japan, Yaeko loved to go swimming in the ocean. She would run home from school, change into her swimsuit and run down the hill from her home in Kobe to the beach to swim. Yaeko enjoyed sewing and even made her own wedding dress. She also enjoyed crocheting, working sudoko and word search puzzles. She never missed an episode of Wheel-of-Fortune. She loved her church and was one of the founding members of the South Austin Seventh-day Adventist Church. Yaeko served as a deaconess at her church and also greeted members and visitors before services. After retiring, Yaeko would help her brother, Tim, at his home care service for the elderly Japanese community in Mountain View, CA. In recent years, she crocheted numerous baby blankets for her church's ministry for incarcerated women with babies and young children. Her blankets were also gifted to many of our friends' babies over the years.

While her children were young, Yaeko worked from home as a seamstress, creating many beautiful garments for her customers. She eventually took her skill to a local business, Paul's Interiors, where she made custom window treatments. Yaeko eventually went to work as a file clerk for J. M. Rowley Insurance. Yaeko's last place of employment was Motorola, where she worked in the silicon lab inspecting chips. She retired from Motorola in 1992.

Yaeko is survived by her daughters, Lou Hermes and her husband, Bruce of Austin, TX, Grace Jensen and her husband, Lester of McDonald, TN, and Jun Tinsley of San Diego, CA; her grandchildren,Tyler Rabun and his wife, Amanda of Houston, TX, Travis Rabun, of Tulsa, OK, Celeste Hermes of Boulder, CO, Geoffrey Jensen and his wife, Janel, of McDonald, TN, Jimmy Fernand and his wife, Fatima of Houston, TX, Lauren Linahan and her husband, T.J. of Austin, TX, and Tess Hermes of Austin, TX; and her great-grandchildren, Ainsley Rabun, Austin Rabun, Josiah Jensen, Ava Jensen, Jude Jensen, Margot Rabun, Benson Rabun, Audrey Linahan and Everett Linahan. Yaeko was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Jimmy Tinsley, in 2017, and by her parents and all eight of her siblings

The family would like to extend a special thanks to Heart to Heart Hospice and all of the staff at SoCo Village for taking such great care of Yaeko (Grace) this past year.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made in her memory to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.