Rose Setsuko Tanaka
May 21, 1929 -
Dec 8, 2024
Rose Setsuko Tanaka passed peacefully on Dec. 8, 2024, at the age of 95, in the Hillside home she and her late husband, Jim, built in 1965. Rose was born in Cheyenne, Wyo., to first generation Japanese-American Issei parents. Her father worked as a section foreman for the Union Pacific Railroad.
During World War II, Rose, along with her parents and siblings, witnessed less fortunate Japanese-Americans from the Pacific Coast passing through the Cheyenne rail yards enroute to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. Rose's brother Tom served valiantly with the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Germany, and was later awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his service to the United States. Amid wartime prejudice, Rose, her two sisters Susie and Margaret and brother George supported their family when employment opportunities were denied to their parents.
In 1951, Rose earned a degree in medical technology from the University of Wyoming. In 1953, she moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where her husband, Jim, was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base. Rose began her career working in Elmendorf's hospital laboratory. In 1956, she worked as a technician in a small two-and-a-half-room facility shared by the State and the Arctic Health Laboratory. When the space became too cramped, she helped move the facility to its new home during the winter of 1962, enduring 30-below temperatures that froze specimens, and navigating a thin budget that limited lab tables to plywood sheets on wooden sawhorses.
Rose was the Southcentral Regional Laboratory supervisor for 45 years, helping to surmount public health crises such as the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. Rose was highly regarded by colleagues and known for running a tight ship. She crushed every Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) inspection. The training laboratory at the State of Alaska Public Health Laboratory is dedicated to Rose for her years of service.
Like her Anchorage house, the Girdwood cabin started as a mutual project with Jim, but his sudden death, in 1978, meant that seeing her children through Dartmouth and finishing and maintaining the house and cabin were up to her alone. She did this handily despite endless hours in the lab and an unending succession of cats and dogs given to her without prior consent by her daughter Janice.
Rose's avocational pursuits included family, pets and alpine skiing. She was a gifted gardener who lived for planting season. A successful flower season meant lush perennials and planters bursting with colorful annuals. Stargazer lilies blooming in late August were the crowning achievement of a good summer growing season. She kept at it even through last summer, a testament to her enduring vigor.
True to her nature, Rose passed while tending to morning chores revolving around a perfectly ordered house and her beloved 16-year-old dachshund, Lucy. She ran out of steam to sand the 50-yard water-on-ice driveway that she was still snowblowing three winters ago. Rose cooked a Thanksgiving dinner for eight guests the week before her passing.
Rose is predeceased by her parents, Tatsuhei and Tsuge Tsuda; four siblings; and her husband, Jim. She is survived by her son, Matt Tanaka and wife Jean Tanaka; daughter, Janice Tower and husband Steve Tower; and grandchildren, Lucas Tanaka, Landis Tanaka, JJ Tower and Dana Tower. A celebration of her life will be planned for the near future.
