Diane Lynda Ogami

Diane (Dede) Lynda Ogami May 15, 1954-March 27, 2008 Loving wife of Kenneth Azebu for over 27 years and the beloved mother of Megan and Matthew, passed away after battling Creutzfeldt Jakob disease for over three years. She was the daughter of Richard and Chiyo (deceased) Ogami, sister of Gerald and Ruthann Saito. Daughter-in-law of Nobu and Judy Azebu, sister-in-law of Mayumi Thomson, Stan and Jean Azebu, Janice Azebu and Diane Dunwoodie, Dudley and Audrey (deceased) Leonard. She was aunt to Meredith and Jason Kondo, Steven and David Thomson, Lauren and Eric Azebu, Brittany, Cortney and Alec Leonard, and Kai and Ren Dunwoodie. She was a true friend to many, and will be missed by everyone. Dede was born in San Jose and graduated from Lincoln High School and San Jose State University. She started her first business, Communicart Graphics & Printing, shortly after graduation. She believed strongly in doing whatever she could for many causes and was able to use her business to support many community organizations and groups. She also served as a Board member of San Jose JACL, YWCA and San Jose Taiko. Dede enjoyed hosting parties. When she and her family lived in Santa Clara, her 4th of July party grew from a small gathering to over 200 friends who came to enjoy the camaraderie, food and fireworks from nearby Great America. Her experience in planning parties carried over into chairing events for community groups. She started Images West, Dealers in Fine Art in 1988, in part to help raise funds for non-profit organizations. She wanted the best education for her children, and enrolled them at The Harker School. Dede quickly became an active volunteer and leader at Harker, doing her part to help make it the best educational experience it could be for her children. A Celebration of her life will be held on Friday, April 4, at 7 p.m. at Wesley United Methodist Church, 566 N. 5th Street, San Jose, CA.