About Jean Yamanaka

Jean Yamanaka was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines from 1967 to 1969, where she taught high school mathematics in Butuan City, Mindanao. She died on March 24, 1976, at 31 years of age, in La Jolla, California. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Southern California Peace Corps Service Council (now Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Los Angeles), elected in 1974 to represent San Diego County and re-elected in 1975 and 1976. After her death, her parents, James and Terue, donated $100 to the Service Council with the request that the money be used to continue the Service Council's work.

In response, the Service Council established the Jean Yamanaka Memorial Fund within the Council's non-profit corporate structure. Board members Hal Huffer and Barbara Simms drafted the guidelines and made the first grants with the approval of the board. The first grant was $25.00 to a Mother's Club in Brazil, where the money purchased infant care supplies and paper to print infant care instruction sheets.

Hal Huffer said that their commitment to the Fund derived from their respect for Jean and her service to her community after her return from the Peace Corps. She was a member of the San Diego Cerebral Palsy Association and volunteered with the YWCA, Big Sisters and the American Heart Association. "She was the RPCV all of us wanted to be like," said Hal.