THE BAY AREA Japanese-American community lost of one of its truly outstanding leaders when George Eiichi Kondo passed away in July 1998 at the age of 84. George was a shining example of philanthropy and tireless dedicated effort to community causes, not only as a founding member of CJAAA and Board president for over ten years, but as an active participant in several local organizations. Anyone fortunate to come into contact with him will remember his dedication and energy to make ideas real. He was a long time resident of the Bay Area until he and his wife Chie moved to State College, Pennsylvania in 1990.
A native of Berkeley, where he attended high school and graduated from UC Berkeley in 1934 with a degree in Business Administration, George was affectionately known as "Korn" to his college classmates. He used to like to tell young people that he got the nickname because he was so corny! He and his wife, Chie, whom he married in 1940, were interned at Tanforan and Topaz during World War II but were able to leave camp by securing jobs as domestics in the Chicago suburbs. He was later hired by an Italian-owned produce market in Chicago and worked there until returning to California where he ran a laundry business in Berkeley.
Active in the East Bay communities of Berkeley and Oakland, George was deeply involved in the Oakland-Fukuoka Sister City Society, the YMCA, Rotary Club and Optimists. Through his dedicated efforts and community reputation, he was asked to serve on the Oakland Museum advisory committee for over twenty years. Consistent with his commitment to the Japanese-American community, he took on the position of regional director of the JACL's Northern California Western Nevada-Pacific District. He held this position until his departure from the area in 1990. He was a familiar sight at JACL annual chapter dinners where he installed hundreds of chapter board members with what became known as the Kondo version of the organizations oath of office. In his fifteen years as the NCWNP director, his pioneering efforts helped start seven new JACL chapters in his district and never missed a district council or executive board meeting.
It is not an overstatement to say that the CJAAA is in large measure what it is today as a result of KornÕs dedication and perseverance. Together with the late Mo Noguchi, also a former past CJAAA president, he helped create the organization from funds earned from the sale of Euclid Hall, the Nisei dormitory at UC Berkeley. Having been a resident at Euclid Hall, he felt that the proceeds should go to help the future generations of young Japanese-American students-leaders at UC Berkeley. By bringing together former UCB and Euclid alumnae, he established the CJAAA with the purpose of providing scholarships to entering Japanese-American students at UC Berkeley. Under GeorgeÕs leadership, the scholarship program was extended to any JA student attending any UC campus. Without his vision, our highly successful scholarship program, which continues to expand today, would not exist. To date, we have given approximately $200,000 in scholarships. Similarly, George also helped create the internship program to assist students gain valuable community service experience as well as establishing the student loan program to help those struggling to deal with rising university costs.
In short, the memory of George Eiichi Kondo will continue to live on not only through his commendable efforts in the CJAAA and other community organizations, but through his tireless dedication to make the world a better place. The spirit of George Kondo lives on through CJAAA activities and we will strive to continue to build on the foundation that this true Nisei pioneer has built for us.
-John Tateishi
