Gary Clifford Yamasaki
June 13, 1956 - February 19, 2022
Tribute
Gary Clifford Yamasaki
June 13, 1956 – February 19, 2022
On Saturday, February 19, Gary Yamasaki had been in the Abbotsford hospital for three
weeks dealing with complications related to his cancer. By then he was feeling well
enough to enjoy the wonton soup he had asked for, approved by his doctor and brought
by his wife, and he explained curling to her as they watched the Olympics together. Yet
suddenly he was overcome, and just a few hours later with his wife at his side, he took
his last breath and crossed the threshold from this life to the next.
People are like a breath;
their lives are like passing shadows.
LORD, tear open the sky and come down.
Psalm 144:4-5 (NCV)
Gary was born in Vancouver, B.C., played many sports in his childhood and youth, was
baptized into the church, met and married his high school sweetheart, graduated from
law school and passed the bar, managed a running shoe store, earned a Master of
Divinity and a Ph.D. in biblical studies. He taught at a Bible school for over twenty-five
years, then taught and supervised grad students at a Christian university. His research
specialty was perspective criticism, and his latest project was developing an animated
video series to teach New Testament Greek.
Gary was an innovative teacher and scholar, who met hardship with endurance and
faith in God, and was unfailingly kind to others even as he went through hospitalizations
and chemotherapy. He loved mentoring and encouraging others, watching and
analyzing movies, running for fitness and even moreso for the sense of freedom it gave
him, tending daily to his fantasy hockey pool, and being “at home with just us two.”
Gary leaves behind his brothers, Brian (Kathy) and Warren (Sheri), and other extended
family members and friends, missed by them and by many, especially by his wife and
best friend, April. The positive thoughts and prayers of many within and beyond the
church community and the expressions of care from family, friends, church members,
health care workers, and even strangers have been a key part of this journey. In deep
grief and deep gratitude, thanks be to God.
In lieu of a memorial service, please celebrate Gary’s life by giving blood, encouraging a
health care worker, or doing some other deliberate act of kindness. As well, please
leave a memory or tribute by using the “send condolence” link. Donations in his memory
gratefully received by a charity of your choice.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.
Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Matthew 22:37, 39 (NCV)
In Memory, from Gary’s brother, Brian
I recollect Gary’s first childhood accident, since I was responsible for babysitting. We
were playing and crawling on a wooden telephone pole, when the pole moved and
pinned Gary’s leg underneath. Fortunately he was rescued by the neighbours, his leg
was fine, and I got another chance to babysit my little brother. Gary’s love for hockey
stats started at a very young age as we fought over the sports section of the Sun newspaper. He kept stats of every goal, assist, and penalty minute of each player on a
daily basis. His love for the Montreal Canadiens even led him to clip “Go Habs Go” in
our front hedge. As a runner, Gary was very fast, and he chose what I thought was the
hardest race of all, the 800 meters. He challenged himself further when he went on to
complete the Chicago Marathon. Gary loved mentoring. This even included teaching
elementary school students about track on his days off from managing the running shoe
store. His accomplishments were endless. I will always remember the support and
encouragement he provided to me when I entered my first Sun Run and every run
thereafter. I am so thankful for the closeness I felt we shared in this past year.
In Memory, from Gary’s brother, Warren
I remember Gary doing well at school since all his past teachers had high expectations
of me (no pressure), being a meticulous statistician with his stacks of Hockey News and
his statistics binders during high school (a pre-cursor to his hockey pool career), and
someone that loved sports. We had fun playing street hockey, he was a very good goal
keeper in juvenile soccer, he played tackle football, played baseball sometimes together
with me on the same team. He was a member of the Vancouver Optimist Club, training
with Olympic medalists Greg Joy and Debbie Brill down in Brockton Oval. He was a
great field hockey goalie. He and four of his friends won a game against the senior high
school field hockey team for fun. He also played the trombone for all of high school
which was important to our parents, but noisy for the household. He was able to pick up
an electric guitar and learn Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” by ear. Hard act to
follow both Brian and Gary.
In Memory, from Gary’s friend, Chuck (Texas, USA)
Gary was a friend for almost 35 years. I met him in graduate school, where we were the only two who survived the first year. He was as gentle and kind a person as I have ever met. He combined his faith and his scholarship in remarkable ways. He earned a Ph.D. under the world-renowned professor, Dr. Jack Dean Kingsbury. He wrote books, not for tenure, but because he had something to say about how point of view mattered in reading biblical texts. He lived with great passion: as a runner, as a researcher, as a teacher of Greek, as a supporter of April’s ministry, as one who memorized the Gospel of Matthew, as a friend. He not only had the Sermon on the Mount memorized, he lived it, non-violently, generously, faithfully. Remarkably, we kept in touch, even though we both lived in the same city for only two years. Our friendship survived and grew. His memory will always be part of my life. Rest in peace, Gary. You will be raised in power.
Condolences
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From: Dominique Emmanuel Denguessi
Relation: Instructor, congregation member, friend
From: Mona Tokarek LaFosse
Relation: Teacher and mentor
Gary was my teacher and my first academic mentor. He set me on my career path as a professor of early Christian studies. I met Gary in my first year of Bible college when I was 17 years old. He was newly minted as a professor himself, having trained as a lawyer but resigning after a successful bar exam in order pursue the study the New Testament. He introduced me to exegesis. I went on to learn introductory and advanced Greek from him. Learning Greek flung open the richness and depth of early Christian texts. Gary was an excellent Greek teacher—patient, detailed, methodical, passionate, and knowledgeable. Gary was also creative and thoughtful in his pedagogy. I clearly recall a revelatory assignment for our course on the Synoptic Gospels: a close comparison of Matthew, Mark and Luke with the film _Jesus Christ Superstar_. I adapted this idea into a film essay in the New Testament course I now teach every year. Knowing my desire to teach, Gary provided opportunities for me to begin teaching. He allowed me to conduct a tutorial for introductory Greek students, and in my third year of Bible college, he agreed to supervise a teaching internship. Every year, Gary attended the Society of Biblical Literature annual meetings. When I told him of my interest in cultural anthropology and the New Testament, one year he brought back a recently published volume published by the Context Group who did such work. A number of years later, I became a member of the Context Group myself. In later years, we met at such conferences, either SBL or the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. Gary always had a full schedule of sessions to attend; such was his passion for lifelong learning. At Bible College, I remember being mesmerized by Gary’s performance of the Sermon on the Mount in chapel. I recall the audience’s reaction when he said, “if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away,” for Gary would enact this literally, having two hands on the pulpit one moment, and the (fake) right hand dramatically flung aside the next! (He did a similar action with a ping-pong ball when he got to the part about plucking out an eye.) Several years ago, I began to perform gospel texts within my own context, and I now teach a course called Performing the Stories of Jesus. Gary was always dedicated to research and publishing despite a heavy teaching load, and I always admired his dedication to this facet of his work. His studies on perspective criticism grew more slowly than he had hoped, but has found its way into narrative and performance criticism, especially within the study of the gospels and Acts. I have many more stories and memories that I hold fondly in my heart. I will miss his wisdom, his unfailing encouragement, and witnessing his steadfast dedication to what was important to him. τιμη, χαρις, και εἰρηνη σοι, Γαρη. Deep peace to you, April, and to all who will miss him.
From: Janeen Bertsche Johnson
Relation: Friend
I met Gary in fall 1986 at Associated (now Anabaptist) Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (now Seminary) where we were both MDiv students. Gary and April and my husband Barry and I were part of the same small K-group. We enjoyed eating together, playing games, and talking about all manner of things. I also remember going to MennoHof (Visitors Center) in Shipshewana and seeing a photo of Gary running on the AMBS campus on their wall of Mennonites!
In summer 2000, our family visited Gary and April in Abbotsford, and they took us to see the sights of Vancouver (and taste amazing food at a Chinese restaurant). Although our visits were infrequent in the years after that, it was always easy to pick up where we left off and feel the warmth of their friendship.
On Feb. 23, 2018, I got to have supper with Gary and April while I was in their town for work. Facebook reminded me of that visit on Wednesday morning, and Wednesday afternoon I saw April’s post about Gary’s passing. I feel great sadness for his loss, and great gratitude that I was honored to know him and enjoy brilliant conversations and laughter with him. April, I will be holding you in my thoughts and prayers. May God’s healing love cradle you.
From: Barry Johnson
Relation: Friend from Gary's seminary student years at AMBS, Elkhart, Indiana.
Sympathies to April and the family. Gary was one of the nicest people I have ever met. We had a common interest in sports, but one sport he knew little about at the time was basketball. Being a basketball coach in Indiana, I took Gary along to several games, and it didn’t take long for Gary to catch the basketball bug that many Hoosiers enjoy. It was so much fun to analyze and dissect the game with Gary. When our paths would cross in the years following, Gary would reflect with fondness about his time of learning about basketball with me. That meant so much to me. He was a great friend – I will miss him so much.
From: Heather Tanemura
Relation: Cousin
April, Brian, and Warren…..So sad and sorry for the loss of Gary. May your treasured memories keep him close. Hugs.
From: Joyce Schmidt
Relation: through our church
Blessings on your wife April & extended family. remember he is in a better place, where we will meet him one day according to God’s agenda.
From: Karen and Bill Holden
Relation: Friends of Brian and Kathy
We grew up in South Vancouver with Brian, Gary and Warren. Many days were spent playing ping pong in the basement, playing tag in the neighborhood and going to baseball games at Moberly Park where Gary’s dad was an umpire. Brian was our age and we have heard stories about Gary over the years. Gary was five years younger than us so was not really part of our group nor was he in high school with us. We are so sorry for the loss of such an articulate and accomplished man.
From: Doug Miller
Relation: Friend
Here are some of my favorite memories of Gary, some involving April as well, over the past thirty-seven years:
* Taking classes with Gary at AMBS.
* Studying at AMBS with Gary for our GRE exams.
* Gary loves rice!
* Gary tells me I MUST listen to Billy Joel
* Gary and I both love Calvin and Hobbes
* Staying in touch during our doctoral programs, both on the east coast.
* Being introduced to Gary’s innovative perspective criticism.
* Gary loves sports.
* Gary loves movies! and we share some of our favorites.
* Listening to Gary present at SBL (several times), including his insights on teaching.
* Gary is a runner.
* The time April and Gary hosted me in BC and gave me a wonderful day in Vancouver: introducing me to dim sum, “Thirteen Conversations about One Thing” (I think that was the movie), great sites along the shore.
* All the great times of catching up together at SBL.
* Corresponding briefly with Gary during the past couple of months.
* Hoping Gary would be strong enough to write the essay on the book of Acts for the Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible project.
April, may all the memories and prayers and blessings assist in holding you up so that you can grieve well in presence of God and God’s people.
From: Bevan Voth
Relation: Friend
I am saddened to hear of Gary’s passing. I knew Gary from his time at Emmanuel Mennonite Church. Gary was a blessing and inspiration to anyone who met him. He was always ready to listen and his enthusiasm on the various subjects one discussed with him was infectious. I was always so inspired by the messages and insights he brought to our church services and adult Sunday school sessions. He significantly influenced and deepened my understanding of Scripture and challenged me to dig deeper and consider various perspectives. I am so thankful he shared his gifts and insights in such a humble and impactful way. My condolences to April and to Gary’s family.
From: Robin Lawrence
Relation: Colleague and Student at Columbia Bible College
I knew Gary as a colleague and as my Greek instructor at CBC. I remember most how much he came alive in the classroom, bringing life and clarity to challenging subject matter. He was an enthusiastic scholar with a commitment to serving all his students well. I am grateful for the legacy he leaves in all those students whom he empowered and equipped with his love for biblical studies and the practical tools necessary to engage the Bible well. Gary was an excellent steward of his gifts, and we were blessed to have him in our community. My heartfelt condolences to April and all of Gary’s loved ones.
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In lieu of a memorial service, please celebrate Gary’s life by giving blood, encouraging a health care worker, or doing some other deliberate act of kindness. As well, please leave a memory or tribute by using the “send condolence” link.
Donations in his memory gratefully received by a charity of your choice.
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