Obituary of Lynda Ashizawa Denevan

Lynda Toshie Ashizawa was born in Sacramento, California, to Hideko Makabe Ashizawa and Isamu Hidenori Ashizawa, of Loomis, California. She had a younger sister, Arlene, who died as an infant; and two older brothers, Norman, of San Jose, California; and Theodore, also recently passed. Her family lived in Loomis, where her grandfather farmed peaches and pears. Two years later, shortly after the United States entered World War II, American citizens of Japanese descent were sent internment camps. The Ashizawa family was detained from May 13, 1942 to July 21, 1945 at camps in Tule Lake, California and Minedoka, Idaho. At the same time, Lynda's uncle, Wilson Makabe, served in the Japanese-American 442nd regiment of the U.S. Army, the most decorated unit in American history. After internment, Lynda's family moved to Elko, Nevada, where they lived until 1952. From there, they moved to Los Gatos, California, where they lived until 1959. Her father had a dry cleaning business; her mother was a credentialed teacher and full-time mother. In 1957, Lynda's mother died of a stroke at the age of 47. Hideko's death was devastating to the family, but they drew closer together and supported each other during this period of immeasurable grief. Lynda described her mother as the purist, most angelic woman in the world. A devout Christian, Hideko played the piano, sang in the church choir, and encouraged her children to work hard and to be good and decent in all ways, values that Lynda passed along to her own children. Lynda graduated from Los Gatos High School in 1958 and went to San Jose State University where she graduated with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Psychology in 1962. She met her first husband in college, and they were married from 1963 to 1975. From that marriage, Lynda gave birth to twins: Noelle, because they were due in December; and Norman, named after her brother. She always referred to their birth date as the "happiest day of my life." Lynda was a single working mother, a fluent speaker of Japanese, an extensive traveler throughout Asia and Europe, and a valued employee at the NASA/Ames Research Center and the University of California, Santa Cruz. When the twins were seven, Lynda started dating a high school language teacher, William Denevan, whom she married after a happy eight-year courtship. They bought a house in Santa Cruz and lived together for twenty-eight years. In her retirement, Lynda enjoyed gardening, visiting her grandchildren, going to Jazzercise, feeding the birds, and watching "Jeopardy!". Lynda was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on Saturday, August 20th and died six weeks later on Saturday, October 1st. With extraordinary assistance from Hospice of Santa Cruz, the twins were her primary care-givers. Lynda had always said that her children were her "pride and joy and her raison d'être," but to be home, caring for their mother, was Noelle and Norman's greatest privilege, and for those six weeks, their own most important reason for being. With her children home, Lynda was happy, content, and reassured. She died peacefully in her sleep, twins at her side, and husband and brother in the house close by. Lynda is survived by her husband, William Denevan, of Santa Cruz; daughter, Noelle Wittliff, son-in-law, Derich Witttiff, and two grandsons, Jasper and Milo Wittliff of Los Angeles; and son, Norman Watkins, and his beloved dog, Emma, of New York City. Private services have been held. In memory of Lynda Denevan, please consider making a donation to the American Cancer Society, Hospice of Santa Cruz, or your local animal shelter.