Yaeko Kashima passed away of heart failure on March 4, 2025, at the age of 91. Yaeko was born Yaeko Yuki on August 7, 1933 in Salinas, California, the daughter of Katsuichi Yuki and Shizuno Yoshida. Her mother and father were from Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan, with her father emigrating in the late 19th century and her mother arriving later as a picture bride. Her father was a pioneering lettuce farmer and owned a grocery store. She was the youngest of eight children and spent her early years helping her parents and siblings in the fields of Salinas picking strawberries and helping out at the family store. Following the outbreak of war in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the incarceration of 125,000 Japanese Americans, of which Yaeko was one at the age of eight. She joined her family in their forced relocation to, first, the Salinas Assembly Center at the Salinas Racetrack and Fairgrounds, then Poston in Arizona, and later Topaz in Utah.


In 1945, following the end of the war, her family relocated to Redwood City. At the age of 16, in 1949, she moved into the home of the Arbuckle family in Menlo Park as their live-in maid and nanny. She graduated from Sequoia High School in 1951. She married Hideyoshi Kashima in November, 1956. In 1961 they welcomed their first son, Mark, and in 1964 their second, Robert. Hid was co-owner and operator of Kashima Nursery, a wholesale chrysanthemum farm in Redwood City, for nearly 50 years. Yae worked as an administrative assistant at Mayfield Publishing for 29 years where she was a beloved member of the Mayfield family. Hid and Yae were lifelong members of the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple, a central part of their Japanese American community. It was through the temple that they met lifelong friends, sustained their culture with their children and demonstrated their devotion to their faith community. Hid and Yae were also longtime members of the California Flower Growers Association, attending their annual gatherings for many years.


Yaeko acted as a surrogate mother and grandmother to many of her nieces and nephews and their children. She was fond of playing bridge with her friends, even gathering on Zoom during the pandemic to keep up with their regular games. Before retirement, she belonged to a local bowling league. She was well-known among family and friends as an excellent hostess, holding many large gatherings at her home each year. She was a skilled cook and baker, known for her Chinese chicken salad and banana cream pie, which she auctioned off annually at the PABT Obon. She volunteered regularly at the temple, "helping the seniors" of Yuwa-kai and Tomo Ni Kai well into her own old age.


Yaeko leaves behind her beloved sons Mark (Jackie) and Robert (Stephanie), grandchildren Maya, Kati and Sydney, and many cherished nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws and friends. A memorial service will be held in celebration of her life on Saturday, April 5, 11am at Palo Alto Buddhist Temple.