Memories of Ruby
If you have a memory, story or message to the family and loved ones that you would like to share,
please click on this "Share with us" button and submit your memory.
From:
Claude K Takanishi
As Ruby’s younger brother, four years younger, I had some very different interests and experiences than my sister. We grew up in Kekaha, a small sugar plantation town, very close to the beach. Our house had a backyard large enough to fit several houses. It had lots of plants and dirt. More often than not, I spent my days in the yard doing “boy” things and Ruby was inside doing “girly” things. I loved playing outside, digging holes and filling them with water, shaping the mud and getting dirty. Meanwhile, Ruby spent her time inside with her hobbies, sewing clothes like our mom taught her and making scrap books. One of her favorite collections contained pictures of the Japanese actress and singer, Misora Hibari. Or you could find her inside reading books. She loved to read.
After dinner on evenings when it was too hot to stay inside, Ruby and our father would sit on wooden lawn chairs on the back porch and play “big word” games. Too young to play, I sat near them and listened as they challenged each other to guess the definition of a complicated “big” word and to spell it. Our father loved to read, too, and had an extensive vocabulary, so he really made Ruby work, but I could tell that she enjoyed it.
During high school, Ruby studied a lot in her bedroom and did not watch much television. Her desk faced the thin wall separating her bedroom and the living room where I often relaxed at night by watching television programs. Back in those “olden days”, the floors were wood, no carpets. On occasion, I could hear the sound of Ruby getting up from her desk and marching purposefully to the living room. I knew what was coming by the thundering sound her heels made. It sounded like a herd of animals coming my way. She would the declare, “The TV is too loud. I can’t concentrate.” Then without waiting for me to answer, she would reach to turn down the volume. Before I knew it, she disappeared into her room and shut her bedroom door. That was my big sister.
By the time Ruby graduated from high school, she had taken piano lessons for seven years from strict Catholic nuns. She could read and play music on the piano without needing to practice. On Sundays, she played the piano for services at the church across the street from our house. Ruby was an intense person and she played the piano with great intensity.
My sister was very serious about school and learning. And she, of course, got into the gifted and talented classes. I, on the other hand, was out at the beach in the water catching waves whenever I could. That was my passion. As you can imagine, it was not easy growing up as Ruby’s younger brother and having teachers compare me to Ruby and her accomplishments.
As the years went on, we continued to develop in our own individual ways. Ruby still loved to read and write and didn’t even own a TV. I still surf every morning at 6 am. Despite our different personalities, we remained close. She will always “stay ma sista”.
From:
Marika Takanishi Knowles
At this moment in time, I find it too painful to write at length. I am very grateful for those who have, because so many wonderful memories of my mother’s extraordinary life and personality have emerged in these pages.
My mother was an amazing chef and baker. She had the lightest touch. She shared her recipes with me willingly, but nothing ever tasted the same when I made it myself. My version always tasted heavier and lumpier. She used very little oil and butter, as she so proudly told her guests, but nevertheless her food was always tender and subtly flavored. She always had a pile of clippings of recipes she wanted to try. Although Ruby often described herself as a luddite, she loved the internet for its food blogs and recipes. She forwarded a recipe to me via email almost every day. Often, she included the statement: “mine is better.”
Ruby also loved to eat out. For this reason, New York was the perfect place for her, but she also knew the restaurants in cities all over America. It would take a very long time for us to decide where to eat. She would claim to want to eat ‘wherever you want to eat,’ but of course she inevitably had a place in mind. I only had to get her to name it – she always picked the best places.
When I was growing up, we had lots of rituals around food. In Washington, after my swimming lessons at the YMCA, we would have donuts at Montgomery Donuts in Bethesda. While we sat at the fifties-style horseshoe counter, Ruby drank coffee and we looked through the shop’s book of birthday cakes. One year I got the cake I had always dreamed of, topped with a generic Barbie doll.
We frequently went to the Japanese restaurant Matuba, also in Bethesda. As we entered, I would hide behind her when the chefs screamed “Irashai.” I always had an orange soda to go with my tamago nigiri and inari sushi followed by chicken teriyaki. When I got a little older and my gustatory tastes more sophisticated, she took me to New York City. We started every visit with a trip to the tearoom at Takashimaya. We ate pressed cucumber and chicken sandwiches, salads of shaved daikon and black sesame seeds, and early grey ice cream.
One absolutely adorable thing my mother did: whenever the food would arrive at a neighboring table, she would put on her glasses and peer across the table so that she could determine what our fellow diners had ordered.
She always wanted to eat whatever was deemed the “local specialty.” Once, in Iowa, this resulted in her being served an enormous, deep-fried, butterflied pork chop with absolutely nothing else on the plate. I made a lot of fun of her for this, which she didn’t appreciate.
When she got sick, the hardest thing for her was not to be able to eat what she wanted. The nutritionist at Mt Sinai recommended soft food like boiled broccoli. Ruby informed her that “Asian Americans do not eat overcooked vegetables.”
From:
Lily Wong Fillmore
I knew of Ruby Takanishi as a leader in the world of child development and educational policies before I met her in 2015. I was a member of the committee convened by the National Academies to study the education of English learners. Over the course of the two-year study, my appreciation of Ruby's leadership grew as I watched her calmly but also firmly bring the committee’s interdisciplinary members to work across boundaries and arrive at a consensus on the educational needs of English learners. We became friends over that experience, and long after the study was done, I continued to receive clippings of work related to the subjects we examined in the study.
To be Ruby Takanishi’s friend meant being a member of a far-flung yet intimate internet community linked by frequent emails about educational policy, child development, the education of indigenous students, innovative children’s educational programs, and promising approaches to increasing equity in schooling. When Ruby discovered I was a “Tater Tots” fan, she began sending me articles about nutrition and healthy food choices along with an occasional article about the origins of Tater Tots, their manufacture, or nutritional facts about them: it began its illustrious life as a way to use leftover food waste; a serving of ten Tater Tots adds up to 160 calories, 72 of which are from the fat they are cooked in. Instead of lecturing me on my eating habits, she chose to educate me. Thus, among many emails on educational policy research, I also received articles about natural foods, the wonders of turmeric and ginger, and in the mail––packages of mugicha (barley tea), and other healthful consumable materials.
To be Ruby’s friend also meant meeting and getting to know her other friends—women who are smart, dynamic, confident, and community minded leaders. And it has also meant getting to know her family in Kaua’i and the beauty of the natural world there. It has been a real pleasure being a part of Ruby’s circle of friends and family. Now, along with them, I mourn her passing. May she be folded into the loving embrace of the timeless cosmos
From:
Sylvia Yee
After Ruby passed away, I was so moved by the outpouring of grief and love from her large circle of close friends and family. Ruby was always a very private person and she was always one to deflect attention from herself. But I think she would have understood that our sharing of memories and what she meant to each of us, as we are doing here, is a source of great comfort to those she left behind.
My 30-year friendship with Ruby began as colleagues working in philanthropy with shared interests in figuring out how to make a difference for kids. No doubt our affinity also grew from both of us growing up in Hawaii, being daughters of teachers, and visiting each other’s parents in the same retirement building. I learned a lot from Ruby, who had a profound impact on important parts of my own career. Working at a local foundation in the Bay Area, I leaned on Ruby for research-based ideas on how to change the odds for young people. Her pathbreaking work at Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development helped to launch the national youth development movement and to fuel a paradigm shift in understanding the needs and assets of young people and how to support their growth. I helped to disseminate dozens of copies of the Council’s seminal “Matter of Time”, a series of publications that made a compelling case for more attention to the period of early adolescence and for a greater focus on the ignored after school hours as a time to actively engage young people in their own development. I saw how these ideas sparked the imagination in the community and resulted in significant local policy changes with millions of dollars in new funding for creative after school programs in San Francisco and Oakland. I can easily connect the dots of this work, locally and across the country, back to Ruby’s leadership at the Council.
As head of the Foundation for Child Development, Ruby was a pioneer in still another significant national movement, PreK-3rd, which called for reorganizing early education and closely aligning preschool and elementary grade teaching and learning. Again, Ruby’s work at the national level greatly influenced my work and that of many other colleagues in the Bay Area and across the country, as we aimed to ensure the early education success of every student. Although working from a relatively small foundation, Ruby had outsized national influence, the result of her laser focus and the strategic support of research, policy reports, and fellowships and by serving as a personal mentor to the next generation. She also was constantly on the road, tirelessly connecting people and using her voice to inspire and challenge. I could always count on her to come to San Francisco to talk with community and district leaders to provoke new ways of working to achieve the success of the youngest students and to connect us to other leaders around the country. She was a wise and generous colleague who took her role as a change maker seriously.
In my years of scheming and working with Ruby, what I appreciated most about her was that she carried a clear moral compass and was guided by a strong sense of fairness. Addressing inequalities was a strong thread that runs through what she chose to work on throughout her long career. She also had bedrock beliefs about working conditions and how workers and staff should be treated. I don’t know anyone else who would take the time to make a special cake to acknowledge each staff member on their birthday, as Ruby invariably did at FCD.
Over the weeks since her passing, images of Ruby have flashed in my mind reminding me of our many personal times together. I can picture being with her in a dress store on one of our many trips, picking out colors and styles for me to try on. As I was reaching for a black top on the racks, I was startled by
her sharp scolding, “Sylvia, you have too many things in black. Try this saffron.” And she was right. She made me open to things I never thought I would consider.
Ruby had impeccable taste that favored loose, layered clothing and European/Asian fusion styles. She accented her outfits with big scarves sculpted around her shoulders or with a Ni’ihau shell necklace from her father’s collection. She was very intentional in what she put on and how she wore things. She was the original Marie Kondo, wearing and keeping only the things that sparked joy. I really wanted to be like Ruby.
In the last decade as she set out to rid herself of things that didn’t fit anymore, I was the lucky recipient of timeless, exquisite and sometimes fun pieces. She could always remember decades later where and when she bought the clothes and who the designer was. Whenever I wore one of her outfits to work, my colleagues—both men and women—would take a quick look at me and call out, “From Ruby, right?” There were many of us on the receiving end of Ruby’s generosity, and what’s remarkable is the care with which she chose pieces that exactly suited each person.
I find myself often flashing back to the times that Ruby, Peggy Saika and I spent together—three Asian American women whose friendship had been forged through our work in various foundations and as cofounders of AAPIP (Asian Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy). In the last 15 years, the three of us spent a long weekend together at least twice a year. If we went out of town, Peggy was the designated driver, I was the photographer and often the navigator, but no matter where we were Ruby’s job was to find us good places to eat. And she never disappointed. More often than not, it was an ethnic or an Asian fusion place. It didn’t need to be fancy. It could have been a simple bowl of ramen. It just needed to be every-bite delicious.
On each trip we would take long walks, pop in and out of little shops, find a restaurant for a leisurely meal, and stay up late at night talking and talking. Then we’d do the same thing all over again the next couple of days. We talked endlessly and about everything—our parents and kids, our work, our fears and joys, and how to tackle world problems. We were Asian American women who came of age in the late 60s, lucky to have been molded by the civil rights, women’s and anti-war movements. It was easy and fun to be with each other because we had so much in common.
We laughed, joked and scolded one another. We mercilessly teased Ruby about her fondness for donuts even though she disdained junk food and prided herself in healthy eating. But I’ll admit that Peggy and I were quite happy to follow along as Ruby led us from one donut shop to another to determine which was the best.
I also teased her about how particular, if not picky, she was. But in truth, Ruby had a heightened sense of beauty that she expressed not only in the clothes she wore, but in the museums she visited, the table that she set and the places she travelled to. Her home had a zen-like beauty to it—spare so that your eyes could focus on the hanging scroll with the delicate brush painting or on the clean organic lines of the Japanese pottery. I admired how Ruby brought beauty to her everyday life and how she avoided the clutter that was in mine.
On one of the many times I stayed with Ruby in NYC, we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens and Frida Kahlo exhibit. It was a crisp, unusually cold fall day so Ruby loaned me her spectacular yellow-ochre wool coat with kimono sleeves designed by a Japanese designer in Paris. She, herself, wore a smart wool jacket in a similar shade with her signature big scarf, wool cornered hat, and black Trippen
boots. As we walked alongside each other, I became aware that people turned to look at us. Eventually, a woman smiled and called out, “Are you sisters”? We shook our heads. I laughed thinking, “no way do we look like sisters”. After all, Ruby was Japanese American and I was Chinese American. But now that I think back on it, the woman was spot on. We were sisters.
We have been blessed to have travelled in this life with Ruby. She wanted her ashes to be scattered in Kaua’i where she was brought up and in Japan, her ancestral home where she hiked several sacred trails before she took ill. May she rest peacefully in the homecoming embrace of the deep blue Hawaiian waters and the towering Japanese mountain mists.
From:
Peggy Saika
Remembering Ruby…….
It would be disingenuous on my part if I did not start by sharing that this has been difficult to write. I am still in denial that such a piece needs to be written and that I must speak of Ruby in the past tense. I miss and remember her deeply, with admiration, appreciation and love……
In the rising of the sun and in its going down,
I miss and remember Ruby……
I first met Ruby in the mid-80’s when she was in Washington, DC and I had moved back from NYC work for the Asian Law Caucus in the Bay area. We met again as we were part of the Founding members of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy in1991. I met Sylvia about the same time in the Bay area, but it was not until I went to work for AAPIP in 2002 that the three of us became close friends.
It is in this context that we began “girls’ long weekends” almost two decades ago and my remembrances of Ruby are taken from the depth of our time together. How many times in the past 20 years have Ruby, Sylvia and I stayed up late and awakened early to talk and laugh, talk and get enraged about injustice, talk and laugh at ourselves until we would keel over, talk and plot where we would find the best donuts, talk and figure out where to shop, talk and plan a meaningful visit to an organization/exhibit/performance/church service…….
Our over-lapping identities as Asian American women of the same generation, mothers of children around the same age, working in philanthropy and sharing political views drew us closer as we discovered love of food, drink, travel, and retail therapy. Our conversations were personal, political, professional, emotional and safe.
During a two year period, Ruby, Sylvia and I lost our mothers. We mourned together, remembered each of our incredible moms and found solace in our special space to comfort each other. As our parents had aged, we regularly checked in about parents and children. Ruby, though the trips from NYC to Hawaii and back were grueling, loved those trips, always re-energized by spending time with family and friends, being enveloped in the familiarity of culture and community and from time-to-time considering if she would ever move back.
How amazing to be in Boston when Marika and Steve announced their engagement and the Aunties as Ruby called us were able to host a dinner for their friends. It was the coldest possible time to be there so, of course, we needed to go shopping for wool hats and gloves. I caught Ruby during dinner scanning all of us around that huge table consuming delicious food, savoring incredible wine and drinks, appreciating how happy and joyful Marika and Steve looked. The Aunties and the Mom exchanged looks all evening knowing we would be up late dissecting the evening and making plans for the future. Ruby was so happy. Being in the coldest weather, but covered with the warm glow of love between Marika, Steve and their friends provided an unforgettable experience.
And, my fondest memory of Ruby being impulsive (once during all of our years as friends) – we were together in Oakland for one of our trips. We impulsively invited Marika and Steve who were In San Luis Obispo to come and join us. They agreed and we all packed into our house in Oakland for a few days. My kids came over for dinner along with Sylvia’s younger son and his partner. It gave us a glimpse of what our future might be with all of our kids knowing each other and carrying on into the future generations.
When I went to work for AAPIP in the beginning of 2002, Ruby reached out to me whenever she was in the Bay area. The following was posted by AAPIP on their social media sites. I share the excerpts from her speech as it is prophetic in our current state of BLM and civil unrest.
AAPIP is saddened by the passing of Dr. Ruby Takanishi last Saturday. A fierce advocate in the field of education and child development, Dr. Takanishi was one of the first AAPIs to lead a foundation. The longtime president of the Foundation for Child Development, Ruby was also a co-founder of AAPIP 30 years ago.
Here is a brief excerpt of her remarks at AAPIP's 15th anniversary celebration:
"We are the privileged insiders in a still privileged sector. I believe that we have a responsibility... Beyond our personal advancement and comfort.... How are we using our privileges and our power?... We should celebrate today, but we must turn our minds and energies to the work ahead.... historical and structural racism – deeply entrenched patterns of inequality coded by race, ethnicity, skin color and justified by stereotypes – must be addressed in philanthropy and more importantly, in the broader society.”
Ruby will be missed, but AAPIP carries forward the commitment she championed.
In a similar vein, Ruby was fiercely loyal and promoted activism regarding education programs, pilgrimages, films, museum exhibits about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. When we went to Seattle we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island to meet leaders there who were organizing what would become the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. Bainbridge Island was the first forced removal and exclusion of Japanese Americans during WWII in March 1942. After being taken to Seattle, a three day/two night train ride then several hours on buses they became the first JA community to be incarcerated at the Manzanar concentration camp in California.
Ruby was also a supporter of the Densho Project and its founder Tom Ikeda and the Wing Luke Museum so we would try to visit/support them whenever we were in Seattle as well. She also supported and we visited the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. . Ruby served on the Board of the Democracy Center in Los Angeles that grew out of the work of JANM. We were elated to visit the Japanese Community Center in Vancouver and learn about the history and incarceration of Japanese Canadians. .
My favorite memory last year was staying at Sylvia’s house baking Ruby’s Miso Banana Nut Bread recipe that we ate and she was also able to bring over to Lily Wong Fillmore and Nancy Araki. This was a month before her diagnosis and we were talking about potential trips.
One of her last cards came with a box of socks titled The Socks of Peggy Saika as we are both sock lovers. It came with instructions that the compression socks were to be worn when Sylvia and I traveled to Scotland to see the kids as we promised her we would………
So long as I live, Ruby too shall live, for she is now a part of me,
as I remember how she lived, how she lived through dying and now waits for me...
From:
Deborah Leong
I first met Ruby in 1972 at Stanford University, where we both had the same doctoral advisor and shared interests in child development. We kept in touch after graduation, but it wasn’t until the late 1990s that we became close friends. During that period Elena Bodrova and I developed Tools of the Mind to close the achievement gap by emphasizing self-regulation and executive functions, and by teaching teachers how to develop the mental tools that help children learn how to learn. Focusing on PreK and kindergarten, we used make-believe play, playful learning, and activities built around peer scaffolding to teach literacy and math skills to enable all children, especially those from “at-risk” backgrounds, to close the achievement gap. Ruby, who shared our core beliefs about learning and development, became a critical sounding board for our ideas as Tools grew from a single activity into a full-blown program.
Having Ruby on our side when things were going well was wonderful. Having her in our corner when things weren’t going well was a godsend. After receiving initial positive research results, we had a series of studies with “null” results, where we didn’t do any better than other literacy and math intervention programs. Ruby called me immediately to remind me that a “null result” meant that the program we created worked just as well as the other interventions; it did not mean that we did worse. She also pointed out that our whole-child program organized around play and equity in the classroom did as well as more academic interventions and that this was very much a positive outcome. And, in her caring way, she also said we had much work to do.
For the next 2 years, she called or wrote regularly to provide moral support and help us make sense of the results. She introduced me to people she thought could help. We discussed at length the problems that might have resulted from flaws in measurement or design and the kernels of truth we needed to heed to make Tools a better program. We found and corrected flaws in our approach and since then have had positive results. In retrospect, Ruby’s involvement and investment in the Tools over two decades was an instrumental part of our success. We benefited so much from her wise counsel.
Our last exchanges were about addressing inequality in the teaching of reading. For years, Ruby and I talked about the negative impacts of ability grouping in kindergarten and first grade. We agreed that ability grouping is a form of institutionalized inequity that keeps many children from succeeding and that reasons for children being placed in the low groups are often vague and sometimes have nothing to do with actual reading knowledge. The early attempts by the Tools program to teach kindergarten reading without ability grouping did not fully succeed because many teachers could not let go of the practice because they felt pressured to make sure their kindergarten students passed the end of the year assessments. So, in 2016, we came up with a solution and I wrote a 4-page concept paper explaining how technology might be able to provide the individualization and supported practice that could close the achievement gap without the need for ability grouping. Ruby turned that concept paper into a succinct 2-page document that resulted in the funding of a beta version of the PowerTools Reading app and its release in the iTunes store in 2018.
I am so happy that Ruby lived to see the first promising data indicating that we appear to be on the right track. Without ability grouping, 80- 95% of the kindergarten children who used our app consistently were able to reach grade level or above on district tests. PowerTools use closed the achievement gap for minority children and dual language learners. And children who attended Tools PreK and K scored the highest, supporting Ruby’s ideas about the value of P-3 education. When Ruby heard the results, she responded, “This is big!” followed by a lengthy email about the research and data needed to prove it works. Such a typical Ruby response: she acknowledges the progress, but she also points out the need to understand it completely and go further. I only wish she were here to see the next round of results come in!
Ruby was a wise professional colleague and unwavering personal friend for many, many years. She always was someone to whom I could turn to for the unvarnished truth and a lively discussion about anything—life, raising our own children, a good book, politics, how to make tofu, fashion, art, the value of turmeric, hiking in the mountains…anything and everything.
Mahalo, Ruby. I will carry you in my heart always!
From:
Swati Adarkar
My first meeting with Ruby gave me a lot of insight into who she was. I have my dear friend and colleague Chris Tebben to thank for making this introduction. I was working on a new initiative to connect early childhood services with an elementary school in Portland, Oregon. I wanted to meet people across the country who could best help me sharpen my thinking. At that time more than a decade ago, Ruby was the President of the Foundation for Child Development (FCD). I had been reading all of the many publications and helpful case studies that had been created to help people like me. I was heavily relying on the publications and case studies FCD created on the Pre-K to 3rd grade movement that she launched and shaped. I appreciated the commitment to taking complex content and making it accessible with a bias for action.
Getting a meeting with such an influential thought leader made me feel both excited and intimidated. Ruby’s office was on one of the top floors of a tall skyscraper in NYC with an incredible view of Manhattan. We sat down at a small table and she included one of her staff members in the meeting. She was my size (just over 5 feet) but conveyed a large persona and seriousness. We introduced ourselves and she then got up and brought baklava to the table. I learned from her staff that she had made the baklava and made cakes for each staff birthday. The greeting and the welcome was always something she did with great intention and warmth. She made everyone feel honored. We had a very focused conversation about my work and she gave me tough feedback and a helpful critique, direct and to the point. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Moreover, it quite unexpectedly began years of in person, phone, and email dialogue about the work. I shared her commitment to creating a stronger beginning and more equitable opportunities for young children in the US. She was fierce, courageous, and unapologetic about the boldness of her vision. She was committed to research, policy, and practice and interconnecting these. And also to effectively communicating about what is learned to make meaningful change. I felt so lucky and honored to have her as a mentor and thought partner. Ruby supported me and our organization in numerous and transformational ways.
What was even more unexpected was building a close friendship and having the chance for her to get to know my kids and build relationships with them too. Her obsession with food, talent as a serious chef, love of art, film, books, travel, textiles and clothing revealed to me that she was also an artist. I remember the absolute perfect day we had visiting the Portland Japanese Garden to see the work of her favorite architect Kengo Kuma and of a course a visit to the tea house.
Over the years, Ruby showered my daughter Nisha and me with many incredible one of a kind pieces of clothing. Most days I am wearing a “Ruby”. She transformed my wardrobe prodding me to break out of my usual styles. I sought out and soaked up every chance to stay connected to her. She was like a big sister to me and I loved her dearly. She helped me build my confidence and understood how to support women leaders. She touched so many aspects of my life and made it so much richer, more meaningful, and joyful. I now have a big hole and miss her tremendously. I find myself asking what would Ruby say? What would Ruby do?
I was so blessed to know her and to be one of the many people she generously mentored and befriended.
From:
Suzanne Le Menestrel
I had the honor and privilege of working closely with Ruby for over two years on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus study that culminated in the report, Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English: Promising Futures. I didn't know Ruby personally before the study but of course knew her reputation as a thought leader and scholar, particularly in my own field of adolescent development. As Ruby probably mentioned to many of her friends and family, the Promising Futures or as Ruby called it, the PF study, was ginormous, huge, covering children birth to age 21 and addressing multiple contexts-home, early care and education, school. The task seemed insurmountable at times but with Ruby at the helm, I knew we could get it done. Ruby told me she was a Japanese train conductor and when I said, "What do you mean?" with a puzzled look on my face, she explained that in Japan, the train conductors wear white gloves and shove everyone on the train to keep the train moving on time. She said it was her job to keep the train moving.
I spent a lot of late nights on the phone with Ruby editing chapters, talking about different issues within the report, and figuring out how we could put out the best report possible. Ruby asked to have debriefing calls after every committee meeting so we could analyze what went well, what didn't go well, and what we could do better next time. Every time she came to DC, which was quite often, she made a point of meeting with the study staff team so we could strategize and make sure that the report met the National Academies standards for rigor and quality. I also had the opportunity to travel with Ruby to schools in the west and east and all over Minnesota when the report was released. To my surprise, I learned that this serious policy scholar and child development expert was a celebrity chef fan! I mean, a serious celebrity chef fan! Ruby recommended to me Marcus Samuelsson's autobiography, which I actually read and thoroughly enjoyed! Who is Marcus Samuelsson you might ask? He is an Ethiopian Swedish chef and restaurateur and head chef of Red Rooster in Harlem. Ruby is the first and only study chair I've worked with who requested the specific restaurants that we needed to have our committee dinners at. We ate at several of Jose Andres' restaurants as well as Rasika. We felt horrible that our first committee dinner was at a boring American steakhouse with steaks so large they flopped off the plate.
Ruby continued to send me stories about our report and its impact and it was wonderful to share with her all of the impacts that our report has had around the country. I asked her if she would want to chair another National Academies consensus study and she said "never again," but I was secretly planning to nominate her for something! I will never forget her brilliance, her kindness, and her mentorship to me, to the other National Academies staff, and her unwavering commitment to equity for children and their families. May she rest in power!
From:
Kenji Hakuta
My closest association with Ruby was on the National Academies committee on English Learners, that she chaired. Our paths crossed many times over the years, but I hadn't shared in any projects with her, so I truly got to appreciate her as a colleague. When I heard that she was in hospice, I reached out to her and exchanged some e-mails about memories. She brought up the Nakasendo trail, as well as the old trees. She asked about the Sierras, referencing Obata. She shared vivid memories of being at our house for dinner, remembering my wife Nancy and our dog Momo by name, even though that was the first time she had met them. We talked about her time as a graduate student at Stanford. I created a short video from my photo collection, including photos from the National Academies committee meeting, and of Nakasendo, bristlecone pine trees, and Topaz (where Obata was interned). She sent me pictures of the old trees from Yakushima, which I then incorporated into the video. Here it is - it represents her memories of these conversations and the events they represent. https://vimeo.com/446552641/728085b585
From:
Ralph Smith
Our last exchange . . .
Ralph: (Jun 30, 2020, at 11:29 PM) Your vision and inspiration infused today’s GLR Learning Tuesdays webinar that was organized by the Children’s Institute. I was delighted and moved by Marina’s opening remarks. Although it’s taken awhile, as you predicted, the intentional alignment and integration of the early years and the early grades is now a widely shared aspiration, the fulfillment of which is an increasingly urgent priority. We are all in your debt. And as the great attendance at today’s webinar confirms, the Campaign for Grade Level Reading claims no exemption from the Ruby Takanishi effect. Thank you. Duomo arigatou gozaimasu.
Ruby: (Jul 1, 2020, at 1:11 AM) Don’t touch my mustache! Doo itashimasu!
Ralph: (Jul 1, 2020, at 1:30 AM) Well . . .. Consider me totally surprised that you also are a night person. I am trying up to frame something fresh to say about the learning loss recovery challenge.
Ruby: (Friday, July 3, 2020 6:21:15 PM.) Nothing fresh to say: you do not recover from learning loss when there are no learning ops. Ruby
Quintessentially Ruby. Funny. Clear. Concise. Scintillatingly on point. Drop the mike. Over and out.
From:
Kevin J Thomas
I first met Rudy during my fellowship with the Foundation for Child Development. She was very encouraging and inspired me to continue to work on a population of children - those living in black immigrant families - for which there was very limited research at the time. In my subsequent work with her at the National Academies panel on English Language Learners, I got to know her a little bit more, which increased my appreciation of her leadership, vision, and passion for improving the lives of children in the most disadvantaged circumstances. I will miss her very much.
From:
Roy Miyashiro
What RUBY means to me:
R - Ruby is Ruby. A shy smart child in grade school , grew into a typical ambitious intellect with a driving force to make a difference as her legacy speaks for itself!
U - Ruby’s unselfish generosity of sharing her wisdom and knowledge.
She also shared her piano playing that I would hear her playing every Sunday while I cleaned their yard,,, till today I love to hear piano music. I wonder if she still plays?
B - Ruby’s Beauty that permeates from within her gracious heart out to the world!
Y - Ruby’s Yearning to integrate Early Education With Primary Education is foremost in her published book “First Things First”!
Ruby’s legacy will live on....
We on Kauai finally realized what she has been up to all these years. We did not have any contact and did not peruse hard enough to communicate with Ruby. As Ruby is a private person, reunions was not her interest at the height of her career.
Now we know how involved she was in her “First Things First “ endeavor,
Pure awesome. We class of ‘64 are so proud of her!
Love you Ruby!
Much Mahalo!
From:
Roz Moulton
I love…
The child in you
That you love children and fight for them
That you fight and win…
That you never match your shoes with your top
That you love shoes as much as I do
Your sense of style…
That you said I should never wear brown eye glass frames again
That we shopped together on East 9th Street…
Your love and loyalty to friends and colleagues
Your writing
Your smile
Your innocence
Your savvy
That you see injustice and pursue its opposite
Your love of diversity
That you help others no matter what
Your decisiveness
Your courage
Your posture
You
From:
Lauri Yama
Ruby visited her island home in June 2019 hosting two dear friends, Lily Wong Fillmore and Bobbi Houtchens. Ruby planned everything with Lily and Bobbi in mind. She knew Kauai’s beauty would sweep them off their feet and that saimin, shave ice, fresh fish and local fruit would be forever engraved in their memories of Kauai. Ruby visited family and met up with members of the Waimea Alumni Foundation. Ruby wanted to meet these special board members who award a scholarship Ruby created and named after her mother, Misae Tokushige Takanishi.
Ruby never forgot her roots. Her heart was always here in the islands. She recently traveled to Japan and connected with our Tokushige relatives in Fukuoka, Japan. She never forgot her younger cousins and it was my pleasure and privilege to have spent time with Ruby last summer. To have been in her presence was extra special and for that I will always be grateful God gave us that time together. Aloha and God Bless! Lauri Okada Yama
From:
Anna Marsh
I first met Ruby in about 1980, when Ed Zigler recruited her to teach a course on child development and social policy in the Yale Psychology Department, where I was a doctoral candidate. The reading list Ruby developed for the course was spectacular: Eric Redman’s The Dance of Legislation; Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding; and Graham Allison’s Essence of Decision, among other books.
The class was small, and Ruby and I often seemed to be the only ones who had done the reading, rendering the experience more like a tutorial. Having grown up in Washington, I was steeped in politics and policy from the dinner table conversations of my parents and their friends, but I had not realized the existence of public policy as an academic discipline. It was a revelation.
Soon thereafter, Ruby embarked on a Congressional fellowship in Washington. She needed a place to stay during the week, as she returned home to Hastings-on-Hudson on weekends, and she ended up staying in my old bedroom at my parents’ house. In Ruby and her husband, Louie, my parents found kindred souls. My mother, Caryl Marsh, is a psychologist, and my father and Louie shared an interest in religious philosophy.
Ruby and Louie ended up moving to Washington, and when Marika was born, my parents became her godparents. Every Fourth of July, which is Marika’s birthday, the families would celebrate her birthday and the holiday with dinner at one of their houses, where my dad would set off fireworks in the garden.
So many memories flood my mind: Returning home from Yale for a vacation to discover Ruby’s somber gray suits carefully arranged in my bedroom closet, saying, “You must take me seriously.” Ruby calling during a deluge before my wedding, reassuring me that in Hawaiian tradition, rain on a celebration was a sign that the gods sent their blessings. A delicious lemon gingerbread Ruby made from a recipe in The Silver Palate Cookbook.
In 1993, when my dad lay dying, Ruby and Louie carried us. Afterward, they took my mom with them on a trip to Japan. Ruby and Marika came to Washington for my mother’s 90th birthday party. In recent years, Ruby made special trips from New York to Maryland to visit my mom in assisted living.
When we last spoke in the spring, Ruby was writing a tribute to Ed Zigler. She was, as ever, tirelessly working to employ science and knowledge to improve the lives of others. She sounded so strong that I let myself believe I would see her again. In the truest sense, though, I haven’t lost her. Her friendship, example, and spirit live on within me. And when rain falls from the heavens, I imagine her smiling that the gods send their blessings on our celebration.
From:
Tani Takagi
Dear Ruby,
You and I met and worked together in philanthropy sitting on planning committees, giving circles and boards. As you know, after my husband’s long illness and passing, it took me some time to rekindle many of the relationships I valued over the years. When you and I got together again, we happened to both be wearing Trippens, the funky German-made shoes with a Japanese aesthetic, which made us break into smiles and beam that knowing look between kindred spirits.
Thank you for being a thoughtful and kind friend, a pacesetter, a philosopher, an Alice (in Wonderland) on a spiritual journey to wisdom. And thank you for all the little things we enjoyed and that will always remind me of you – Miyazaki films, Joe Hisaishi music, Bizen pottery, hiking the Kumano Kodo Trail, morgane le fay designs, eating black ramen at Nishida Shoten and manti at Bodrum, Dorothea Lange photos, Food52 blog, nibbling pasteis de nata, Boro and Kasuri cloth, Yayoi Kusama, Chelsea market pop-ups, calling me Kiki (Kiki’s Delivery Service) and of course, Trippen shoes. They are enduring in memory, joy and inspiration. I can't thank you enough, Ruby.
Missing you and with love,
Tani
From:
Joni Ishihara
My daughter Torri and I took a trip to New York City in October of 2015. Ruby met us at the entrance of The High Line, a public park on the west side of Manhattan. While we strolled the mile and a half trail, Ruby explained that it was built on a historic elevated rail line. She shared all there was to know and do on The High Line. We were so thrilled to have our own personal tour guide. The view was breath taking and the history so rich. We ended the evening with a splendid pasta dinner at Chelsea Market.
Because of our age difference and living almost 5000 miles apart I hesitated to ask Ruby to meet up with us as I didn’t want to bother her and take up her time. I’ve come to learn that sometimes meeting up with our loved ones is the best part of traveling. Ruby was excited to have us visit and recommended places to eat and visit. I appreciated the time we had together to catch up on each other’s lives and for that I will always be grateful. . I fondly remember this visit that seems to be so vivid in my memory. I was so happy we were able to connect.
Another memory that I’ll cherish about Ruby is when she was attending Stanford University and she sent me a red sweatshirt that had Standford University embroidered in the front. As a 1st or 2nd grader, I wore that sweatshirt with pride because my cousin Ruby gave it to me and not because of the university. Little did I know what a prestigious university Stanford was until much later. Ruby made this little girl feel so special. A hui hou, Ruby. Until we meet again. I love you!
From:
Cheryl Polk
Ruby, my friend and fierce warrior was committed to truth and equity for all children. Our last email was 6/19/20. In 2002, we traveled from San Francisco to Sacramento monthly to work on the CA Master Plan for Preschool education.To the very end, Ruby was correcting my recollection of our shared memories on those long drives. Ruby urged me to do more, and to be more forthright in sharing knowledge about the many ways to promote positive child development of diverse children. Ruby will be sorely missed by me and many others who were lucky to pass her way and collect her gems of wisdom. Rest in Power, my friend,
Cheryl
From:
Dianne Yamashiro-Omi
Ruby was always a memorable figure in the many meetings and conferences we both attended while serving in philanthropy. I loved her sense of style, her dignified way of speaking, her intellectual brilliance and her down-to-earth sensibilities. It was only in the last few years that we were able to spend more time together. I was fortunate to join Sylvia Yee and Peggy Saika on a "girls" pilgrimage to Ruby's home in NYC. She was an amazing hostess cooking us vegetable curry for breakfast with pickled carrots. We took a memorable train ride to the "shrine of fashion"-Eileen Fisher's HQ and better yet-DISCOUNT OUTLET! I think Ruby loved "directing" us on color, cut, types of fabric. I deeply regret not purchasing the deep brown wool coat she was urging me to buy. I honestly don't have anything dark brown in my closet and in looking back, I think Ruby was urging me to step out of my comfort zone (black) and to try something new which as always, she was absolutely right on so many fronts. She also was coaxing me in her very subtle way to invest in Trippin shoes! She should have gone into sales! And again, she was absolutely right - I needed to venture out from my usual - do something/wear something different - and in her honor, I WILL invest in my first pair of Trippin Shoes to which I will think of her every time I wear them! I know she will be smiling from heaven watching me following her advice (finally).
I always knew Ruby came from a place of deep compassion and love for others. She was wise, kind, generous and lived her life with a commitment to social justice and great courage. Ruby - I will deeply miss you - there is no one like you on this planet. We have truly lost a Woman Warrior. Okagesama de (thanks to you) for all that you did to make our lives and the lives of so many children, a better one.
With deep, deep love -
Dianne
From:
Nisha Bolsey
Ruby was unlike any person I’ve ever known. One of the kindest and most generous. A scholar who was well-read in more areas than most, who also embraced her silly side. You might say she took her silly side seriously—that’s one of the things I love most about her.
In many ways, I’m still unsure how I got so lucky as to be Ruby’s friend. To an outsider, it might even seem strange—the daughter of a friend of hers, decades her junior. It speaks to the person Ruby was (and is still in our hearts) in so many ways. She felt like family.
We shared many obsessions—especially pigs, donuts, and Miyazaki films—seemingly frivolous things that we both love to talk about. Ruby was a rare person who allowed herself to be silly, to engage with children’s books, to create a pig out of wax. She took herself, and the things (and the people) she loved, seriously. In doing this, she opened up space for others to do the same—she was a role model in embracing all the parts of oneself.
I believe we also both share a love for stuffed animals, though it’s not something we ever actually discussed. There were a lot of things that felt implied with Ruby—like she saw who I was somehow without me saying anything. It’s a rare feeling, and I’m still not quite sure how to explain it.
I remember one time, Ruby was visiting Portland, and it happened to be the day my father was getting surgery for cancer. I remember being very anxious and not a particularly good host. But Ruby was steadfast, supportive, and loving in the way she was loving, which, in a way, was another thing she taught me. She didn’t try to talk about it, or to distract me. She didn’t repeat platitudes about how everything would be fine. She listened, engaged with us, had tea with us, watched my brother play piano. She saw us and what we needed in those moments. It was the perfect kind of love, the kind we really needed.
It’s hard to face a world without Ruby in it. Being her friend was an extraordinary gift.
From:
Erin Imon Gavin
I'm so grateful to have found this site, as I've spent the last several weeks wondering how best I could honor Ruby's contributions to my life. Ruby took me under her wing when I was a very young program officer in way over her head. She expressed unwavering faith in my organization's work to advance opportunity for young learners, and pushed me to expand our work into areas of critical need (like supporting dual language learners). The intellectual rigor, deep compassion, and serious joy that Ruby brought not only to our work but also (it seemed) to investing in my own development humbles me. She taught me to think more critically, ask better questions, craft more cogent arguments, and always find the best food in town. I'm thankful for the literal gifts that Ruby gave me -- wool berets and Japanese-American cookbooks -- as they are tangible reminders of her presence in my life. Of course, I'm infinitely more grateful for Ruby's intangible gifts, and they way that she shaped my (and so many others') view of this world. She will be forever missed.
From:
Annette Chin
Having just started in philanthropy, I met Ruby when I attended my first Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy meeting. We kept in touch over the years, and eventually I had the privilege of helping her launch the Foundation for Child Development's Young Scholars Program that funded early career professors' research on the young children of immigrants. She was extremely committed to not only developing the research base on an understudied group of children, but also mentoring the talented scholars who were as dedicated as she was about improving public policies affecting these children. She was such a fierce advocate for the most vulnerable! Her early interest in supporting research on the impact of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on mixed-status families is a legacy of the Japanese American internment's impact on communities given her own family's experience. She deeply believed in the need for research and documentation as a means to protect future families who may be at risk. Ruby's vision and leadership will be missed, but I think her legacy lives on as what we have been able to learn under her guidance. Personally through the years, she was a resource for me in countless ways. Everything from "is it nature or nurture?" I would ask when my son was young to "what restaurant should we try?" when we planned catch-up meals so that I can hear about her many travels. Her passing was too soon. I will miss her.
From:
Sandra Treacy
I heard of Ruby before I actually met her. I was talking to a grantee ( I was running the Stone Foundation at the time) and she schooled me in what a great foundation person should be: listening to her, connecting her with resources in her field, following up. She said that it was so unusual to have a foundation officer talk to her like that. Of course, it was our Ruby.
I came to know Ruby in a professional way when I became interested in Pre-k-3. Ruby was mu lodestar, my guide, and connected me to everyone working to build the field. She was unstoppable. I got phone calls and emails suggesting new resources, so that the Stone Foundation embraced Pre-k-3. We made many , and significant grants, in organizations Ruby recommended.
But more than a professional relationship, was the personal relationship I, and then my husband Robert, developed with her. I would have lunch with her when we went to NYC, and she stayed with us occasionally here in SF. I fell in love with her over our shared passion for food (and she, so very tiny) fashion (so very elegant) and art. I went with her to SFMOMA back in the day and had what was the equivalent of a docent’s tour. Marika came by her art history chops honestly.
So then after Robert and I had established a very nice relationship with RT, we decided to go Japan. May I just say, Ruby was with us every step of our journey, from giving us the best travel agent ever, to reviewing our itinerary, to telling us where to go and what to buy. Of course, we were much the richer for it.
And that is the truth of our Ruby. She was always connecting, always in service of the greater good. Service was in her bones. Robert and I learned from her. Ruby has taken a space in our hearts.
From:
Dave Lawrence
Ruby was and is one one of the finest people I have ever known -- the epitome of decency, a paragon of wisdom, fierce and rightly so on behalf of children and families, a lifelong learner, and a lifelong example for us all. She will be forever missed, and forever loved.
Dave Lawrence
From:
Gene Garcia
We lost a true equity colleague in Dr. Ruby Takanishi. We all know of her career long contributions as a researcher, scholar and foundation president. (Please see FCD.org for a full and appropriate description of these domains of significant contributions.) However, she was a true force for equity in all the spaces she occupied and so often envisioned, designed and implemented.
The terms Don and Dona in Spanish designate a wise, moral and role model for generations to follow. That person, regardless of age has earned the highest levels of respect for their thinking and actions. Therefore, Ruby should be known to us as Doña Ruby con mucho Corazon.
She was a great colleague to me and good friend as well as an advocate for research and the link to policy as it relates to the wellbeing of children and families. I was fortunate to receive her guidance and support on issues related to immigrant children and families, Dual Language Learners and the significance of high-quality early learning opportunities for these populations.
I remember vividly a call to me in which she indicated that more research and related policy needed to be conducted and evaluated regarding our New American citizens—children of immigrants born in the U.S., particularly Latino children in that category. Ruby was always direct and asked me, directly, can you do a discussion paper for the Board of the Foundation for Child Development (FCD) on this issue. You do not say “no” to Ruby. However, after thinking about her request and my commitment, I respectfully called her and admitted that one discussion paper could not capture the complexity of the family and childhood experiences of Latino New Americans. She agreed and over the next three years, with funding from the FCD and several other foundations (funding brokered by her directly) she forced a research team to confront child development and early learning under circumstances that were systemically prohibiting development and learning in the U.S.
It must be noted, that research, policy and practice efforts addressing inequities were not always met with a welcoming tone, but, that was no deterrent to Ruby. For the underrepresented, often misunderstood, and most often ignored children and families, especially in the U. S., Ruby was their research, policy and practice advocate.
She will be missed. But, upon her shoulders of science, policy and motivated advocacy, we must continue to recognize and forward her efforts. Not for enhancing here legacy but for those that she cared so much about.
From:
Anya Bailey
In 2011, Ruby hired me as a communications assistant for the Foundation for Child Development. She took a chance on me as it was my first job out of college and I had a lot to learn. And what an opportunity it was; Ruby introduced me to the world of public service that would become my passion, and a community of brilliant people who would become lifelong friends and mentors.
I think often of Ruby’s masterful leadership. She made everyone feel deeply valued by encouraging their voice. Steady and confident, she guided us in her vision for the Foundation.
One hot summer day my first year at FCD, Ruby and I were the only ones in the office. She asked me to lunch and I was nervous, never having had one-on-one time with “the boss” before. But, over shrimp salads at Scandinavia House, Ruby and I connected over food, family, travel and books and I was at-ease. I felt truly seen by Ruby. This is something I am reminded of when I look in my closet and see the beautiful scarves she knit for me and a hand-me-down dress that she gifted me that I wore and loved again and again.
Three years ago when my mother died, in a sea of condolences, Ruby’s message stood out. I was struck by her deep understanding of loss. She spoke of the gifts people leave us long after they are gone. The gifts Ruby has left us are immeasurable. Thank you, dear Ruby.
From:
Bo Thao-Urabe
I met Ruby not too long after I founded the Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) in Minnesota. I was introduced to her because she was leading the Academy of Science's research on multilanguage learning and given our priorities on education and the number of Asian students who were considered English Language Learners, the colleague felt I needed to meet Ruby. They were right; not only was Ruby an expert, but she listened deeply as I vented about the challenges I was facing, and offered to join me on multiple occasions to meet with community members. She affirmed that science and data should always be useful to those who are most impacted, and she invited me into spaces that would have easily dismissed the lived experiences of community.
Beyond her expertise, Ruby always checked in on me and regularly emailed encouragements. In those early days of CAAL, I was the only staff, so I appreciated her intentional support. I still have emails from her just dropping a line by to say she was thinking of me and our conversations and knew someone else I could connect with.
The last time I saw Ruby was in New York in May 2019. I was taking my daughter for a K-pop concert and told Ruby I could use some adult interactions. She joined me for the day and we visited the Brooklyn Museum to see Judy Chicago's The Dinner Table.
I'm grateful for how Ruby demonstrated being an elder. She was genuinely interested, grounded, invested in the future, and generous with her knowledge and connections. Ruby reminded me that as we build work to achieve social justice, there is always a need for multigenerational leadership.
From:
Chris Tebben
It's difficult to capture the essence of Ruby and what she meant to me because it feels reductive to describe such a remarkable person with just a few attributes. I always marveled at how much intellect, curiosity and zeal for life was contained in one person. Her love of fine food was legendary, and I often felt she had a more encyclopedic knowledge of Portland's dining scene than I did, despite my being a long-term resident here. I was both moved and proud to receive this message from Ruby this summer after I sent her some chocolate rugelach "Based on three tastings of chocolate rugelach made in NYC, here is the current ranking:
Russ & Daughters: thin, crispy crust with high quality chocolate
Orwashers: creme cheese crust with semi-wet chocolate
Zabars: nothing to write about crust with okay chocolate.
Your research is good Chris!"
Ever the researcher, Ruby brought intellectual rigor to all her pursuits -- and to the well-being of young children most of all. She was exceptionally serious about her work, but she never took herself too seriously. She was a steady and persistent advocate who changed the conversation about early childhood development and its connections to K-12 through the research she conducted and commissioned, and through her sheer force of will.
Ruby was a wonderful role model for me who demonstrated how a woman could hold her space in the world with a quiet force. She was a mentor to many women in philanthropy and child development. I was lucky to be among them; Ruby encouraged me to pursue the Executive Director role at Grantmakers for Education and was a trusted advisor who advocated for me and advised me through many of the bumps along the way.
I am so grateful to have had Ruby as a friend, colleague and mentor. While her brilliance and clarity of purpose were often what struck people first, her warmth and tenderness for friends and family -- and for young families everywhere -- was profound.
I'm grateful to be part of the community whose lives were enriched by our friendship with Ruby.
From:
Mark Bogosian
I don’t even know where to begin or truly what to say. I know it sounds hyperbolic or overly dramatic but Ruby changed who I am at a cellular level. She was my mentor. She nurtured me and championed me and taught me more than I could ever put into words - about life and kindness and what it means to believe in something so strongly that you not only fight for it but you create a solution, you create a movement, you create change - and all for the benefit of others. There are many of us that are blessed to call her our mentor, but as I grew older and grew in my career I also had the privilege of calling her my friend. I will miss our lunches. I will miss her wisdom. I will miss her strength. She will always remain the epitome of dignity for me. I and many others will carry her in our hearts and minds and hopefully pass her gifts on to others as effortlessly and impactfully as she did. Ruby, your presence lives on. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
From:
Krista Perreira
I met Ruby as one of the first young scholars at the Foundation for Child Development. I grew up in Hawaii and we shared this connection. She helped make NYC feel a little more like home to me. Her support and encouragement helped many young scholars like myself succeed.
From:
Andrea Brinnel
Although I did not know Ruby well she had a huge influence on me. Ruby's research and writing drew me to study leadership and early childhood. Without Ruby's work, I would not have gone on to complete an Ed.D. program. May her memory be a blessing for all of us.
From:
Gail Hayes
It was such an honor to know Ruby. I have fond memories of spending time with her. She has never been properly credited for coining the concept “two generation”. She visited me early in the development of the Annie E.Casey Foundation Atlanta Civic Site. Ralph Smith introduces me to Ruby and suggested a site visit. She observed the work and shared with me that we were trying to develop a “two generation” approach to working with families and children. I asked her if I could use the term when describing our work. That term “two generation” became an important body of work for the Casey Foundation and other funders for more than a decade. Her influence still lives on with two generation work all over the US. We met a few times for soba noodles when I traveled to NYC. Spending an evening with Ruby was like getting a masters degree in an evening. I always came away with some brilliant ideas and a deep appreciation for her intellect and kind soul. I can only imagine the loss for family and close friends— I regret I never had enough time to be with her. RIP dear colleague. Thanks
From:
Ruth Ann Burns
Ruby was a one-of-a-kind champion for young children and a passionate advocate for re-thinking the educational experiences of children ages three to eight. I feel so lucky that I had the privilege to serve as a board member of the Foundation for Child Development from 1992 through 2014. It was an era of great strides in research and application of PreK-3rd education, all due to the vision and drive of Ruby Takanishi. Ruby was a leader with much grace, kindness, brilliance and a deep sense of humility. As a friend she loved to talk on any subject and was always interested in your family and experiences. A journalist among social scientists she would probe my world and was curious about ways to position and move foundation research into public policy. I will always remember her board lunches that were always exotic even for New York, healthy and presented so beautifully. Our private lunches ranged from politics, children (mine and hers), caring for aging parents, music, and of course the work of the Foundation. Her sense of fashion was so unique just like she was. Her personal notes were deep thoughts with special meaning. Her last gift to me was a beautiful silk scarf of many colors of orange fading to beige. There was a story of where she brought it and when I wear it memories of Ruby float in my mind. Her legacy lives on and the children of America benefitted so much from her advocacy and spirit that all children can learn so she founded programs to make that more possible.
From:
Barbara Paul Robinson
I had the great privilege of working closely with Ruby Takanishi when I served on the board and then as Chair of the board of FCD. From all the comments already submitted, I can only confirm that Ruby was passionate and committed to serving the public interest by promoting new young scholars while advocating tirelessly for universal early childhood education. Her work has had a major impact for the better on so many lives. I know she was particularly proud of her daughter Marika and all Marika was doing to carry on this family legacy in her own impressive work and achievements. My sympathy goes to Marika and to all of this for her loss but comforted by the memories of all she achieved -- a role model for all of us.
Barbara
From:
Ellen Berland Gibbs
As a long-time Board member of Foundation for Child Development, I had the pleasure of working with Ruby in a number of capacities. My fondest memories include looking for office space together in New York City, sharing travel tips to Japan, enjoying specialty chocolates--but most of all admiring her strong moral compass, her devotion to FCD and her clear vision of the issues facing American children. She was special indeed.
From:
Liz Van Deerlin
I am writing this on October 8th - two months after Ruby's death. I still hear her voice alot & I find it as soothing as ever. I first met Ruby when I worked at the Wash, DC daycare center Marika attended as a toddler. When Marika was 8 or 9, I started babysitting for her after school until dinner time. (btw, Ruby disliked referring to me as a babysitter - she always preferred calling me a childcare provider) I cared for Marika after school until they moved to NY City in the early summer of 1997.
Ruby & I got along like "peas & carrots" (yes, I am quoting Forrest Gump!) She & Louie were both very kind & generous to me. She gave me a raise in salary every year - I never had to ask. She also offered me free airline miles as manyX a yr as I wanted to use them to go visit family or friends. This was after I took a long trip by Greyhound bus to visit an elderly aunt of mine in Kansas one summer. Ruby looked quite puzzled when I told her I had really enjoyed that bus ride - after all, I was a mere 37 yrs old at the time. But I can still see her reaching over to a drawer where she took out an envelope containing all the info about her free airline miles acct. She pointed out the toll-free ph# and then handed it to me. I've said it before & I'll say it again - Vintage Ruby!!
She & I had a long, relaxing dinner together in DC in early Fall of 2017. She had hair nearly to her shoulders & seemed so relaxed. She was planning a trip to go visit Marika in Scotland & was eagerly looking forward to it. We stayed in at that restaurant table together for well over 3 hrs - probably closer to 4 hrs - and had such a delightful time. I remember we both felt compelled to leave an extra-large tip because it was a very busy place & we both felt a bit guilty for tying up the table that long during the dinner hour.
She got back to me afterwards letting me know how much she had really enjoyed (& loved!) Scotland. I am so happy for her that she had that fun & wonderful trip, as well as her other hiking trips to Japan, where she would hike all day & then later relax & soak in natural hot springs. I felt I had travelled w/her when she spoke about the beauty of the Inland Sea
I love you & miss you, my dear "Rubykins" and always will, dear girl. Thank you for your true-blue friendship!
All my love,
Liz xo
From:
Lisa Araki
I think of Ruby as a role model: an enormously kind person with a razor-sharp, insightful intelligence and a natural generosity. I'm lucky and honored to have known her.
From:
Under Construction
From:
Under Construction