Honorary Diploma

95-Year-Old Japanese-American Receives Honorary Diploma

Heart Mountain 1944. (R) Hannah (Hayano) Semba with her sister Judy (L). Hannah (Hayano) Semba was born in Mount Vernon, Washington in 1926 and was one of seven children of immigrant (issei) parents who came to America from Japan in the early 1900s to forge better opportunities for their family. Hannah grew up in the Conway area and attended Mount Vernon High School until 1942 when her family was forced into an internment camp during her sophomore year of high school. The family was given one-week’s notice to leave their home; bank accounts were frozen and assets seized. Each member of the family was allowed only two suitcases. Twenty-four members of her extended family were placed into the camps for up to four years.

Following World War II, the family moved to Minneapolis to start a family-run Japanese grocery store. Hannah attended Macalester College and trained as a dietitian at the University of Minnesota where she met Thomas Semba, a young medical student. Thomas and his family were also incarcerated at Tule Lake, California. His father was arrested by the FBI the day after Pearl Harbor and was considered “an enemy alien” and placed in a special Department of Justice internment camp in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he was held for four years without formal charges.

Hannah married Thomas Semba and together they raised their family of four children in Minneapolis. All four children became physicians. Robert graduated from Stanford (BA/BS) and Univ. of Minnesota (MD) and practices orthopedic surgery; Richard graduated from Yale (BS) and Stanford (MD) and is Professor of Ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute; Laura graduated from Brown University (BS/MD) and trained at Univ. Chicago and UCLA as a pediatric maxillofacial surgeon; Charles graduated from Carleton College (BA) and Univ. Minnesota (MD) and is an Adjunct Professor of Radiology at Stanford Univ. School of Medicine and a biotechnology executive. Hannah’s husband Thomas T. Semba, MD, passed away in 1988.

Earlier this spring Hannah’s son, Dr. Charles Semba, reached out to the Mount Vernon School District inquiring if they could arrange a visit to the high school during a planned trip to the area. He had no expectation or idea of what that request set into motion.

On May 3, 95-year-old Hannah was presented with an Honorary High School Diploma from Mount Vernon High School (MVHS) by Dr. Terri Wattawa, MVHS Principal, and Dr. Ismael Vivanco, Superintendent.

“It was a tremendous honor to meet Hannah (Hayano) Semba and her son, Dr. Charles Semba. Her experience as a Japanese American in the 1940s is indeed tragic, just like the other 120,000 Japanese people held prisoner in concentration camps in our own country. We were excited to host her back at her high school and discovered she was a focused student and active in the extracurriculars. A true Mount Vernon Bulldog, the award of her honorary diploma was a memorable experience” said Vivanco.

Hannah pictured with her four children.

“We were excited to host her back at her high school and discovered she was a focused student and active in the extracurriculars. A true Mount Vernon Bulldog, the award of her honorary diploma was a memorable experience.”

Dr. Ismael Vivanco

Superintendent MVSD