A prominent California couple who met and fell in love at a World War II internment camp for Japanese-Americans 78 years ago have died within days of one another. 

Elizabeth Yamada, 90, succumbed to COVID-19 on May 20, just nine days after her husband, Joseph, died following a battle with dementia. 

Elizabeth was the first Asian teacher at San Diego High School, and later sat on boards for government agencies, colleges, museums and foundations, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Joseph was a noted architect who helped design SeaWorld and the University of California San Diego. 

The pair were both born to Japanese immigrants in San Diego in 1930 - but did not meet until their families were forcibly incarcerated at Poston World War II internment camp in Arizona. 






Elizabeth Yamada, 90, succumbed to COVID-19 on May 20, just nine days after her husband, Joseph, died following a battle with dementia. The pair first fell in love at an internment camp for Japanese-Americans in 1942


Poston opened just months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Between 1942 and 1945, up to 120,000 Japanese-Americans were forced from their homes and shipped off to internment camps under an order signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt.  

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan apologized for the internment of Japanese-Americans, saying government's actions at the time were based on 'race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.' 






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Poston was barely inhabitable, with rows and rows of hurriedly constructed tar-papered barracks 'where sand drifted in through the walls and scorpions crawled up through the floors'. 

Its location in the middle of the desert meant extreme heat in the summer and extreme cold in the winter.   

In a 2006 interview, Elizabeth recalled being sent to the camp with only one suitcase. Not even her father - who had obtained a Master's degree from Princeton - was immune from incarceration.  






Elizabeth and Joseph were forcibly incarcerated at Poston World War II internment camp in Arizona between 1942 and 1945







Poston was barely inhabitable, with rows and rows of hurriedly constructed tar-papered barracks 'where sand drifted in through the walls and scorpions crawled up through the floors'







In 1988, President Ronald Reagan apologized for the internment of Japanese-Americans, saying government's actions at the time were based on 'race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership'


However, just days after arriving at the camp, aged 11, she met Joseph Yamada, and the course of her life changed forever.  

After they were freed from Poston in 1945, both Elizabeth and Joseph completed high school in San Diego. They both went on to study at the University of California Berkeley and married in the 1950s. 

The couple had three children while both enjoying career success.  

Elizabeth taught English at San Diego High School, while Joseph became a partner at a prominent architectural firm in the city.

His designs helped shaped the look and feel of San Diego, with a colleague telling The Times: 'There was a sensitivity that entered into everything he did. His creativity meant that each project had its own personality.'
















Elizabeth and Joseph both obtained degrees from the University of California Berkeley. Elizabeth became the first Asian teacher at San Diego High School, while Joseph became a partner in a prominent San Diego architecture firm 


Elizabeth later became a partner in her husband's architectural firm, and established herself as a prominent speaker and writer - compiling stories about the experiences of Japanese-Americans who were forced to spend time in internment camps. 

But despite their individual success, tour phượng hoàng cổ trấn the pair remained inseparable from one another. 

Their told The Times it is no surprise that they died within days of one another. 

'They raised us with a little bit of everything. They were open to anyone and everything,' son Garrett told the publication. 






The couple both died aged 90. They are survived by their three children 
















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Couple who met in Japanese internment camp die within days of each other at 90 - Los Angeles Times