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Memorials: Davis Friends Meeting

Grace Kyoko Noda

Date of birth

Jan. 14, 1920

Date of death

March 14, 2018

Meeting

Davis Friends Meeting

Memorial minute

Grace Kyoko Noda, a resident of Davis, California, for 58 years, died peacefully at her home on Wednesday, March 14th, 2018.   She led a full and adventurous life characterized by a constant interest in music, education, travel and social justice. Grace was a beloved member of Davis Friends Meeting.

Grace was born January 14th, 1920 to James Zenichi and Yoshi Imamoto in Berkeley, California.  She was the eldest of four daughters; sisters were Lily, Marion and Alice. All were instructed in piano and enriched by music in the home.  

She attended UC Berkeley until the middle of her senior year when the attack on Pearl Harbor put a temporary stop to her education.  Fearing an attack by Japanese Americans on home soil, the U.S., under Executive Order 9066, quickly built 10 internment camps around the country and detained more than 120,000 Japanese Americans.

Grace's mother and father were both Japanese language teachers and therefore among the first individuals detained. Her mother was one of only 23 women held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Grace's father James was sent to a prisoner of war camp in Lordsburg, New Mexico where he was separated from his family for over a year. Grace's mother Yoshi was temporarily detained at the Terminal Island immigration center in San Pedro, California.  Grace and her three younger sisters had the monumental task of closing up their home and packing their lives into only what they could carry. Grace and her three sisters were temporarily housed at the Santa Anita Race Track Assembly Center in San Francisco, California.  Conditions at Santa Anita were dismal; they lived in horse stalls whose lingering urine smell made many detainees ill, including Grace's mother who was reunited with her daughters. In the fall of 1942 Yoshi and her daughters were sent to the relocation camp in Jerome, Arkansas where her husband James would later join them.  

The internment experience and being deemed an enemy alien among those in her birth country profoundly shaped Grace in the years ahead.  Quakers reached out to the Japanese Americans, treating them with compassion and respect. Their belief in pacifism and social justice spoke to Grace.  Quakers helped many young people leave camp to attend college. Grace’s husband Grant lived with the Wildman family and attended Earlham College as part of this outreach.

After the war, Grace volunteered to go to Japan to work with the American Friends Service Committee. The Quakers were looking for someone who could speak Japanese and care for children orphaned by the war; she was there for 2 years during which time she learned to drive a jeep and met the Emperor’s daughter. For Grace, this service was an atonement for the brief resentment she felt at being Japanese.  The rest of her life was exemplified by forgiveness, gentle humor and constant work for peace, harmony and social justice.

Grace received a teaching credential from UC Los Angeles.  She became the first Asian teacher in the Richmond, California, School District where she taught 2nd graders for 10 years.

Grace met Grant Noda while they were both living in Berkley and Grace was teaching.  Grant and Grace were married in 1955 and moved to Davis in 1959. In Davis, Grace’s activities blossomed.  She made costumes for Sacramento Opera Company and Davis Comic Opera. She attended opera and ballet in San Francisco and Sacramento, theater in Berkeley and Davis, and later was active in Friends of Mondavi, the performing arts center of UC Davis.  Her interest in education and music coalesced in her support of, and as major donor to, the UC Davis Pitzer Center showcasing student artists. Concerts at the Mondavi Center were favorite events.

Not the least incongruous with her love of music, Grace enjoyed all sports and was an avid San Francisco Giants and 49er fan, but perhaps the most fun was had on the sidelines of soccer games of her grandchildren.  “She didn't just watch baseball," said her daughters, "Mom would watch anything sports related. She would even watch bowling."

Grace traveled extensively with her husband, her sisters, and her friends. Before she was married, Grace made two trips to Europe on ocean liners.  In her lifetime, she traveled to over 48 countries before even going to the Caribbean. At 75 she, Grant, Will and Jane Lotter ventured to Guatemala where they served as Witness for Peace in the government handover of land parcels to farmers.  Sleeping in hammocks within mud floored huts was no deterrent. Cultural programs in Asia or Europe were frequent destinations, and she was never happier than when she was living out of a suitcase.

Her quiet activism endured.  With Margaret Brooks and Louise Conn, Grace established the Davis Friends Meeting in the early 1960s.  She and her family marched against the Vietnam War in San Francisco in the late sixties. She fought for eighteen year old youths’ right to vote given their having to be conscripted for the draft.  She counseled conscientious objectors and stood in a silent anti-war vigil with Quakers in downtown Davis every Wednesday at noon for years. She supported Cesar Chavez and the boycotts centered on unjust treatment of farm workers.  She celebrated the first Martin Luther King Jr. Day with others in marches across the country. For years, she volunteered at the Friends Committee on Legislature of California, a Quaker lobby focused on education and prison reform. She was in her seventies when she was arrested for protesting at a nuclear weapons facility.   Grace extended the hand of friendship in the development of what became Davis International House. She served on the Pine Tree Gardens Board (a mental health group residence) and volunteered at Loaves and Fishes (a homeless service agency). Grace was also active in local political organizations and lawn signs were ever present.

For all this activity, her family remembers her for being the heart of the family: for her love, for acceptance offered to all, and for her welcome arms.

Grace is survived by her husband Grant, her daughters Kathy (Steve Miura) and Tanya (Harvey Yan) and her grandchildren Kelly, Mark and Isabella.  A private memorial service/remembrance in the Quaker tradition was held in May 2018.