Rose Yoko Kubo Yamamoto died peacefully on August 28, 2023, in Thornton, Colorado. She was 105. Born in Mitchell, NE, on January 16, 1918, she learned perseverance from her father who had immigrated in 1906 to work on the transconOnental railroad. Speaking only Japanese, Rose
was placed in a first grade English speaking classroom where she learned English and taught it to her younger siblings. She attended Converse County High School in Douglas, Wyoming.
Instilling the value of a broad education, her parents Ujiro and Konami Kubo (Mitchell, NE) sent her to live with relatives in Japan to learn the culture, spoken and written language. She graduated from Meizen Girls High School of Takamatsu, Japan. Later when asked to help, Rose used her language skills to translate Reverend Hisanori Kano’s memoir for his book, NIKKEI FARMER ON THE NEBRASKA PLAINS.
In an era when it was not easy to attain a college education, Rose graduated from Scottsbluff Community College, graduated from the New York Training School for Deaconesses and Church Workers, attended Union Theological Seminary, and Teachers College at Columbia University, New York.
Community service was important to Rose who was a member of Holy Apostles Episcopal Church (Mitchell, NE) where she served as clerk of the vestry, junior warden, senior warden, and superintendent of the Sunday School where she taught for over 30 years. She worked as a United Thank Worker in mission fields centered in Mitchell and North Platte, NE, as secretary and board member of the House of the TransfiguraOon Retreat House (Bayard, NE), president of the Southwest District of Episcopal Church Women (ECW), and secretary on the Diocese of Nebraska ECW Board.
Rose’s many years of volunteer service included Meals on Wheels and the North Platte Valley Red Cross Board where she worked in Fund Raising, Disaster Work, and Service to Military and Families. She served as a 4-H Club Leader and helped judge 4-H Photography at county fairs and
the Nebraska State Fair. She was secretary of the Parents and Teachers Organization of Kiowa Elementary School (Lyman, NE).
Rose was married for more than 55 years to Yutaka Yamamoto (Lyman, Scottsbluff, and Gering, NE). Their children include Carol (Chicago, IL), Allyn and Sandra (Thornton, CO), and grandchildren Jevan and Adyn (children of Allyn). In 2003 on the death of her husband, she moved to live with family in Colorado where she continued her volunteer efforts and attended St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, Denver. Rose is preceded in death by her parents, brothers Ben and Carl (of Russell, KS), Leo (Hacienda Heights, CA), John (infant) and sisters Katheryn (St. Paul, MN) and Alice (Billings, MT).
According to her wishes, cremation was performed, with a memorial service to be held later. Memorial gifts may be made to Holy Apostles Episcopal Church, Mitchell, NE, and the American Red Cross.