Mas Yonemura passed away peacefully in Oakland on July 22, 2008, at age 91.

Mas was born in Riverside, Calif. on Oct. 7, 1916, the sixth of eight children. He attended Riverside City College and UCLA, where he received his B.A. in economics with highest honors in 1939. He received his law degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall in 1947. Drafted out of law school, he served in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific during WWII while his parents were interned in Poston, Ariz.

He married Toshiko Furuta in 1943, and after the war, he and Toshiko settled in Berkeley, where they raised their family. They were married for 59 years until Toshiko’s passing in 2002.

Mas began his 60-year law practice in West Oakland, and later opened his own office and partnership in downtown Oakland, where he practiced many areas of law, with increasing concentration in immigration law. As a pro bono lawyer, he assisted the late Wayne M. Collins in representing Japanese Americans who “renounced” their U.S. citizenship while they were involuntarily interned during WWII.

Among the many honors earned in his distinguished career, Mas was decorated by the Emperor of Japan with the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays, with Neck Ribbon, for his work in bettering bilateral relationships between the United States and Japan through a better understanding of the laws of each country.

Besides his career, Mas had a great love of gardening, automobiles, collecting modern Japanese prints, and traveling, especially to Japan. He was also an avid reader, well versed on many topics.

Mas is survived by his children Ann, Jean and her husband Butch Wing, and Paul and his wife Maya; stepson Brian; granddaughter Teri; sister Aiko Yuguchi; as well as Etsuko Fukushima, Martha Furuta, Grace and Yutaka Shiraishi, Sanbo Sakaguchi, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 3 p.m. at Dunsmuir House and Gardens, 2960 Peralta Oaks Ct., Oakland.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the National Japanese American Historical Society, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, American Immigration Law Foundation, Japanese American Services of the East Bay, or Japanese American Veterans Association.