Irene Hirano Inouye, widow of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, died yesterday, according to the U.S.-Japan Council. She served as president of the Washington, D.C.-based organization.
Hirano Inouye, 71, passed away following an extended illness, according to a statement posted on the council's website.
She married Daniel Inouye in 2008 after the death of his first wife in 2006. The senator passed away in 2012.
She was the founding chief executive officer of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and served as chair of The Ford Foundation.
Hirano Inouye was involved in nonprofit work early in her career, serving for 13 years with a clinic for low and moderate income women and families. In 1988, she became president and director of JANM. The museum shares the history of Japanese Americans, including the forced internment of about 120,000 in government camps during World War II based on their ethnicity.
She served on numerous philanthropic boards and organizations. She chaired the Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Center, the American Association of Museums board of directors, the advisory board of the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the California Commission on the Status of Women.
The council said plans for a memorial service will be announced after the COVID-19 crisis ends. In lieu of flowers, the council said donations can be made in her name to the U.S.-Japan Council.
According to Pacific Citizen, the newspaper for the Japanese American Citizens League, her surivors include her daughter, Jennifer; stepson, Ken Inouye; sister, Patti Yasutake; and brother-in-law, Michael Uno.
