Janet Ikeda

Janet Ikeda

1961 - 2024

Janet Ikeda was born in 1961 to Shizuwa and Saburo Ikeda. Her grandparents emigrated from Japan as farm workers in the early 1910s. As a younger Sansei (third generation) Janet grew up surrounded by grandparents, aunts and uncles, and a lot of cousins and friends. Life was centered around the culture of Japanese American farming in the Arroyo Grande Valley, with an emphasis on the importance of education. At a young age, she took to cooking, learning by watching her grandmothers, mother and aunts cook vegetables from the family farm with a Japanese influence. For example, she enjoyed meticulously making her Obachan 's (grandmother) futomaki sushi recipe. The science of cooking, attention to details, and determination to understand the essence of a dish set a seed in her. In 8th and 12th grade, these academic qualities were honored by being voted as a student 'most likely to succeed '.

She attended UC Davis and received a bachelor's degree in food science. This led to a job to develop food products bought in supermarkets and specialty stores based on the economics that drive their production. Over time, her desire to ensure food was a tool for the well being of communities, led her to pursue a master's degree in education at Stanford University. Her thesis was set in Guatemala, with an emphasis on how to beneficially supplement food staples. She visited Guatemala, to become fluent in Spanish, and to see first-hand if her thesis was viable. As a true researcher, she determined it was not but recognized other more pragmatic community needs. She came back to California and trained at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at UCSF. Janet then went back to Guatemala on a Fulbright Scholarship and became a fellow at the CDC outpost at the Universidad del Valle studying the interrelationship of TB and HIV in rural Guatemala.

In Guatemala Janet met Dr. Cesar Lopez Tellez. Later they had their first child, Benjamin Lopez-Ikeda and got married. They settled in Quetzaltenango, built a home, welcomed their second child, Marisa Lopez-Ikeda, all while founding a non-profit organization called the Association for IDEI (Investigation, Development and Integral Education) which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year.

IDEI continues to contribute to the improvement of the health, education, gender equity, human rights, community participation, and respect for culture in the south-west area of Guatemala. This included work in HIV-related topics, where IDEI was invited to present their work at global AIDS conferences. A dream of Janet's was to open a clinic in Quetzaltenango for community access to HIV care, which is currently being directed by her husband.

In 2016, she moved back to her home in Berkeley. She took a position in San Francisco at the Center on Substance Use and Health (CSUH). Janet was a senior research study coordinator at CSUH. She aimed to create a better quality of life for individuals abusing substances. Simultaneously she was still working with IDEA to increase coverage and access of rural families to comprehensive reproductive and child health quality.

Janet died in the early morning on December 22, 2024 in Arroyo Grande with her family by her side. For over a year and a half she faced a terminal cancer diagnosis with extraordinary grace, strength, and courage. She worked with CSUH and IDEI until a week before her death.

A through line of her life's journey was the health, well-being of people, including her family and her community. Interwoven throughout was her joyous and genuine ability to 'laugh', to travel, to cheer on her favorite 'futbol' team Argentina, to binge shows with her kids, and to walk Fin (her dog) on the beach to savor the simple moments in life. You would often see her downtown in the local café to have a good cup of coffee and a pastry. Her humanity embraced and guided each steppingstone of her remarkable life adventure.

Janet is survived by her son Benjamin, daughter Marisa and husband Cesar; sister Margaret and her husband Evan, and their son Dylan; brother Tom and his wife Maureen, and their children Brendan (Grace) and Catherine; the Fukuhara families including Auntie Millie and Auntie Reiko and their children and grandchildren; the Ikeda cousins and their children and grandchildren; the Hayashi cousins and their children and grandchildren; and the extended Kobara families including Auntie Mari and her children and grandchildren.

A graveside funeral will be held in Janet's honor on Saturday, February 1st, 2025. The service will start at 11am at the Arroyo Grande Cemetery, 895 El Camino Real, Arroyo Grande, California. Everyone is invited.

Marshall-Spoo Sunset Funeral Chapel