By GWEN MURANAKA, Rafu Senior Editor
Hundreds gathered at Anaheim Free Methodist Church on Sunday to remember Ellyn Iwata, a leader of the Japanese American community, who passed away on July 28 at 65.
She received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and passed away a short time afterwards.
Iwata was not one to seek the spotlight; rather she was a connector, the sort of person who provided the glue between community organizations, family and her wide network of friends. In his eulogy, son Warren Yamashita, MD, MPH, said his mom loved lifting others up.
“The world lost a beautiful soul who knew how to give,” Yamashita said. “Some desires she had for the JA community were to increase collaboration across different groups that traditionally don’t work together. She also desired the JA community to invest in the younger generation that is coming of age and to even partner outside the JA community to uplift both the JA community and other AAPI communities with their shared struggles towards freedom, healing and peace.”
Among the organizations and causes Iwata was involved with are the VFW Memorial Day planning committee, Go For Broke stamp campaign, 2022 Korean War Veterans Tribute and Speaker Forum, Breast Cancer Angels, Walk the Farm, Changing Tides, Asian American Drug Abuse Program, Medallas and So-Phis. She served on the independent review committee that evaluated applications for the Keiro Grants Program.
In the early hours before New Year’s, she was among the volunteers to help Brian Kito and Fugetsu-Do in Little Tokyo to fulfill orders in a tradition called “Mochi Madness.”
In 2019, Iwata served on the planning committee to rename the West Justice Center in Westminster in honor of Stephen K. Tamura, Orange County’s first Asian American Superior Court judge.
Wayne Osako, chair of the Stamp Our Story campaign, said Iwata provided invaluable support to efforts to get a Nisei soldier postage stamp.
“The loss of Ellyn is being felt across Japanese American communities nationwide,” Osako said. “She generously and selflessly served others throughout her life. She helped us at the Stamp Our Story Committee since 2018, assisting in the campaign for the Go For Broke Soldiers Forever Stamp. She was pivotal to the successful rollout and dedication of the stamp when it was issued in 2021.
“Notably, Ellyn reached out to her long list of friends and colleagues, who answered her call to assist in honoring our Nisei veterans. She is an inspiration for her life of service to the community as an attorney, as an activist, and a volunteer who could do it all. Ellyn always gave back with a kind and gentle heart.”
Iwata was born on Nov. 1, 1957, in Whittier to Toshio and Akiko Iwata. The family was incarcerated at the Rohwer camp in Arkansas during World War II. After the war, the Iwatas grew chrysanthemums. She attended elementary school in Buena Park, Ball Junior High School, and Loara High School, where she graduated in 1975. In 1979 she earned a BS in business administration from CSU Long Beach, and in 1984 she graduated from Western State University of Law. She passed the California State Bar in 1985.
She served at the Orange County Superior Court for 33 years as part of the civil and family law research teams, retiring in 2022, and was an active member of the Orange County Asian American Bar Association.
Iwata lost her mother one year after a surprise kidney cancer diagnosis at the age of 52 in 1986, and her father in 2016. She was married to Steve Yamashita from 1988 to 2020.
Her main joy was her three sons, Warren, Derek and Jason, and she supported them in all their endeavors.
Jason, currently in surgery rotation in medical school, performed two songs on the piano in tribute to his mom. Derek founded a tourism company, The Hidden Japan (https://thehiddenjapan.com), in Yamagata in 2018 and has helped bring Japanese artisans and chefs to Little Tokyo.
With his mom’s assistance, Warren, a family medicine and addiction medicine physician, connected to Asian American Drug Abuse Program in Los Angeles, where he now is a member of the board.
After the service, mourners gathered at Orange County Buddhist Church in Anaheim for bento lunches. Iwata was a longtime supporter of OCBC and all her sons were members of OCBC Troop 578.
Iwata’s sons encouraged the gathering to follow the words of a favorite quote of their mom: “Use your voice for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity, your mind for truth, and your heart for love.”
Iwata is survived by sons, Warren, Derek and Jason Yamashita; brother, David Iwata (Lisa); many in-laws, nieces, nephews and other relatives; and her beloved cats Noah and Callie.
Memories of Iwata are being collected as a keepsake for the family. Send videos or written messages to [email protected].