Ruth Tanbara

Ruth Tanbara (; October 15, 1907, in Portland, Oregon – January 4, 2008, in Afton, Minnesota) was a Japanese American community leader in Saint Paul, Minnesota. From Oregon, she was the first Japanese American graduate of what is now Oregon State University.

Early life Born to Frank Jiro and Kiyo Takeda Nomura, Ruth Tokuko Nomura was one of four children, with two brothers, Howard and Paul and one sister, Elsie. Before attending college, Nomura won an essay contests for Nisei appreciation and in 1926, traveled by steamship to Japan, which she said, "enriched my life and gave me a deep appreciation for Japan." Her parents emigrated from Japan in 1903 and she was the first Japanese American to graduate from Oregon State Agricultural College in 1930 with a BA in Home Economics. While in college, Nomura was active in campus organizations, joining groups such as Phi Kappa Phi honor society, as well as serving as the Omicron Nu secretary and the Cosmopolitan Club's vice-president. During the onset of WWII, the Tanbaras moved to Reedley, California to avoid wartime internment under Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. Shortly after, Ruth and Earl Tanbara were formally resettled to St. Paul, Minnesota, where Ruth's brother, Paul, was living. From St. Paul, the Tanbaras assisted over 100 evacuees to leave internment camps on the West Coast and resettle in the Twin Cities area. She died on January 4, 2008, at the age of 100, 34 years to the day after the death of her husband, Earl Tanbara.