Jean Matsumoto

Jean Matsumoto passed away peacefully at Holladay Park Plaza on August 31, 2025, where she had been a resident for 20 years. She was born to Kametaro and Mikiye Matsumoto at the Portland Sanitarium, an Adventist hospital located at SE 57th & Belmont. At that time, her parents leased and managed a hotel called the Kamm Apartments located at 69 Pine Street in downtown Portland. At the age of 4, nuns of the order of Holy Names at Marylhurst College recruited Japanese children, living in the Japantown neighborhood, to a Catholic school teaching kindergarten to second grade. Jean and her sister, Alice, attended the school called St. Paul Miki near St. Mary’s Cathedral until it closed in 1942, when Executive Order 9066 regarding Japanese internment occurred.When Jean was 7, she and her family were sent to the Portland Assembly Center, which was the Pacific NW Livestock Exposition Pavilion in North Portland and lived there for about six months. Thereafter, they were transferred via train to Minidoka Relocation Center, a camp located near Twin Falls, Idaho, to reside until 1945. Upon return to Portland, she started the 6th grade at Shattuck Grade School and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1952. Jean went on to work for the State of Oregon and ended her career as a medical administrative assistant in a research laboratory at OHSU.She served on the Oregon Nikkei Endowment’s first board of directors and was honored with the Paving the Way Award in 2015. Jean was quite involved with the establishment of the Japanese American Historical Plaza and Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center and a member of the Portland Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. She is a lifetime member of the Oregon Buddhist Temple and was recognized by the Buddhist Churches of America with the title of Honorary Ministerial Assistant. She was the first woman to serve on the OBT Board of Directors and later elected to be the temple’s first female president.Jean is survived by sister, Alice Ando; nephew, Kevin (Tammy) Ando; niece, Missy Eisaman; great niece, Kristina; and grandnephew, Lucas.A memorial service will be held at 1pm on September 20, 2025 at the Oregon Buddhist Temple, Portland