Dr. D. Loretta Krause (1938 – 2023)

I’m very sorry to report that Dr. Krause passed away this morning. I’ll remember best two things about her:

1. She fought for the survival of Lab School every time she needed to do so. Never having children of her own, she told me once that she thought of all us Jr. Bows as her sons and daughters.
2. The one time I was sent to the office (second semester of my senior year), I sat down at her desk, she asked me why I was there, I told her what happened, and she said, exhaling a long plume of smoke, “Well, that was pretty dumb.”

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I found across this article about her:

On November 26, 2015, Dr. Loretta Krause attended a reception at the Official Residence of the Consul General, where she was presented the Autumn 2015 Imperial Decoration (Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette) in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the promotion of friendship and mutual understanding between Japan and the United States.

　　　Dr. Loretta Krause was born in a small town in Missouri on October 27, 1938, and moved together with her mother when she was four years old to California, where her grandmother was a teacher. After graduating from a local high school, she studied linguistics at the University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska, and earned a doctorate in education from the University of South Dakota after being accepted as an instructor at the University of Hawaii.
　　　From September 1961 she served as an instructor in the linguistics department at the University of Hawaii, and was principal of the University Laboratory School from September of 1971 until her retirement in December of 2002, where she was instrumental in fostering interest in Japanese language education and Japanese cultural education. Of particular note, she is praised for introducing a “kimono culture” class as a creditable elective course that, over many years, is recognized as spreading true Japanese culture, and she was awarded the Foreign Minister’s Commendation in 1993.

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Rest in peace, Dr. Krause. I’m so happy that you and Ervin are together again. I know he was the love of your life.