City loses well-known educator, volunteer Betty Inouye

NEWS/ PASSING — A memorial service will be held Monday for well-known educator and community volunteer Betty Inouye, who died Tuesday at age 79.

A former teacher and former NorKam secondary school vice principal, she was active in many community groups including the Kamloops Japanese Canadian Association.

Betty was born in Vancouver Feb. 19, 1935, the eldest daughter of Dr. Masajiro and Sumiko Miyazaki. When Japanese Canadians were evacuated from the B.C. Coast during the second world war, she and her family moved to Bridge River and then to Lillooet, where she graduated from high school.

She met husband Roy Inouye while attending the University of B.C.

After teaching in Kitimat for a year she taught in Kamloops from 1958 to 1993.

Betty was named to a provincial committee in 1984 to develop the Japanese Language curriculum now used in B.C. schools.

She served on many committees and organizations including the Kamloops Japanese Canadian Association, Kamloops Lady Lions club, B.C. and Kamloops Folkfest Societies, Kamloops Heritage Language School, Kamloops Multicultural Society, Kamloops Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, and the Kamloops Buddhist Temple.

Among the honours she received were the Kamloops YM/YWCA Women of Distinction Award and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

In 2009, she was included in the book Not Just a Tea Party that celebrated women’s contributions to community life.

She is survived by her husband Roy, three daughters, a brother and numerous other family members.

A memorial service will take place at 1:30 p.m. Monday, June 9 at the Kamloops Buddhist Temple, 361 Poplar St.