[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 16, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1539-S1540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING JERRY ENOMOTO

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
honoring the life of Jerry Enomoto, a devoted husband and beloved 
friend who passed away on January 17, 2016, at the age of 89.
  Jerry Enomoto was born and raised in San Francisco. In 1942, Jerry 
and his family were forcibly relocated to the Tule Lake Incarceration 
Camp as part of Executive Order 9066, one of the darkest chapters in 
our Nation's history. Despite being uprooted from Lowell College 
Preparatory High School, Jerry continued his studies and graduated as 
the valedictorian of his class while still held at Tule Lake. Upon 
release, he proudly served in the U.S. Army and subsequently earned 
bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California, 
Berkeley.
  Jerry dedicated his career to public service, serving as the first 
Asian Pacific American prison warden and the first Asian Pacific 
American to lead the California Department of Corrections. In 1994, 
Jerry broke racial barriers yet again by becoming the first Asian 
Pacific American appointed as a United States marshal.
  Outside of work, Jerry was active in several civil rights 
organizations, twice serving as the national president of the Japanese 
American Citizens League, JACL. In 1992, JACL presented Jerry with 
their highest award, Japanese American of the Biennium, recognizing his 
years of advocacy and leadership. Jerry and his wife, Dorothy, always 
spoke out against injustice, and in 1999, they co-founded an annual 
dinner to promote civil rights and diversity in response to a series of 
hate crimes in their Sacramento community. Now in its 17th year, their 
annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Celebration Dinner has become a 
highlight on the calendar for those who are committed to making 
Sacramento a more equal, inclusive, and diverse community.

[[Page S1540]]

  Jerry was a true civic leader who lived a life of service and 
patriotism despite the prejudice he experienced in his own childhood. 
His immense contributions to the State of California will never be 
forgotten, and I send my deepest condolences to his wife, Dorothy, and 
their loved ones.

                          ____________________