By snoadmin
Muddy hiking boots, well-worn ballet shoes, photo collages and flowers greeted friends, family members, students and faculty in attendance for the “celebration of life” memorial of assistant professor Atsuko Hayashi at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden Monday afternoon.
Hayashi, a professor of Japanese, died in her apartment on June 18. The cause of her death is not yet known. She was 49.
Approximately 70 people were at the memorial service Monday, including her mother, younger sister and aunt, who all flew from Japan to attend the service. Also in attendance were: Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Gerry Riposa, Chairman of the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies John N. Tsuchida, former Interim Provost Dorothy Abrahamse, Hayashi’s best friend from graduate school and several former colleagues from universities where Hayashi had taught.
Hayashi’s best friend, Lea Williams, began the memorial service with a brief biography of the Japanese professor’s life. Williams recounted her time with Hayashi, when both women were studying for their Ph.D.s in at the University of Oregon and had met in ballet class, a class that both Williams and Hayashi both recognized as “meant for younger, more agile people.”
Among the highlights in Hayashi’s career were a stint making English audiotapes for kabuki plays and teaching Japanese in India, Australia, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Santa Barbara and, later, at Cal State Long Beach.
“[My] memories of Oregon are really marked by the time we spent together alongside lakes and rivers [while hiking],” Williams said. “Hayashi was a never-ending source of support.”
More than 15 former colleagues, friends, students and family members spoke at the service, with several of the speeches given in Japanese. In their speeches, faculty members and friends called the professor’s death “a tragic loss” and “an unexpected tragedy.”
Hayashi had been suffering from an undisclosed illness. One speaker recounted how Hayashi had been “so happy to be back in the classroom” after she had been in the hospital for treatment for her illness.
Students remembered Hayashi as “a remarkable professor” who gave everyone a chance to speak in the classroom and tried to reach out to all of her students.
“She’s a cute lil’ woman … She’s patient and sweet,” wrote one student on the Grade My Professor feature of MySpace.
“She is very patient and funny,” another student wrote on RateMyProfessor.com. “She is willing to answer all sorts of questions in class and afterwards too … Fair grader and easy to talk to.”
Hayashi’s interests included hiking, biking, yoga, ballet, kabuki, Japanese pedagogy, Japanese literature and the history of written Japanese. She will be remembered by those who knew her by her “signature black poncho and sandals.”
The service ended with a reading of a poem written for Hayashi by a colleague. The speaker wrote, “In this silent night our hearts meet.”
At the beginning of the service, the first speaker noted that although Hayashi was planning a trip to Japan this summer to visit her family and friends, at the end of this week she “will indeed be returning to Japan.” This time, though, it will be forever.
