Yae Kusaba

Yae Kusaba On July 3, 2015, Mom passed away at the age of 94. She was born on January 23, 1921 in Seattle, Washington to Kunihiko and Noo Hanami Yasuda. She was the second oldest of six children. All her siblings predeceased her. She was known as "BaChan" to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As one of the few remaining second generation Japanese-Americans (Nisei), she was interned in the Minidoka Japanese Internment Camp in Hunt, Idaho in 1942. After the war, she moved to New York City where she met, fell in love, and married Henry "Hanko", with whom she would spend the rest of her life. She had two sons, Henry Jr and Dabo. Due to a family tragedy in 1955, she relocated permanently to the Sacramento area. After raising her two sons in South Sacramento, she moved to the Tahoe Park area while building a home near Grass Valley. As she had hoped, the Grass Valley home became the principal place for family gathering. Mom owned and managed a clothing store, the Lemon Hill Juvenile Shop, in the 1950's. In the 1960's, she went to beauticians school and opened the Jasmine Beauty Salon. She became a Real Estate Agent for Kusaba and Associates in the 1970's while authoring and publishing her book, "My Very Own Pattern", a how-to book of personalized dress making and design. She was an accomplished business woman. Her enthusiasm and ambition in business was driven by her love for her family. Mom spent the last year in a half at the Greenhaven Estates Assisted Living Home, a care facility in South Sacramento. She developed friendships with the staff and residents, and remained cheerful and good-humored until her passing. Yae was preceded in death by her husband Hanko of 66 years. She is survived by; son Henry Jr (Karen) Kusaba of Folsom; son Dabo (Staci) Kusaba of Sacramento; four grandchildren, Corey (Stacey) Kusaba of Folsom, Myles Kusaba of San Francisco, Nicole (Tosh) Price of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Brittani (Raj) Brown of Oceanside; six great-grandchildren, Brooklynn, Aiden, Jackson, Brody, Kenley and Brittani. At her request, services will be private.