REMEMBERING
Norman Y. Mineta

I was introduced to Norm by Les Francis, his former Administrative Assistent in the House of Representatives, during the Carter Administration where Les and I were colleagues. Norm was Les' mentor, hero and friend. Because I was a colleague and friend of Les, naturally I joined Norm's large and growing extended family and fan club. I just loved him from the first time we met...his smiling eyes, warm greeting, sense of humor, love of his family and devotion to public service were instantly and forever clear. After the Carter White House, Les and I became partners in public affairs consulting and Uncle Norm was always a source of ideas and encouragement. Later, as CEO of the Council For Excellence in Government, I had more opportunities to experience and celebrate Norm's unparalleled public service and warm friendship.The Council chose to honor Norm and Sandra Day O'Connor with the Elliot Richardson Prize for Excellence and Integrity in Government in 2007 and I was honored to interview them at an event televised on CSpan, which was designed to share their personal leadership stories in an effort to attract talented young people to public service. Norm talked about his family, his early years, his career in public service, and what motivated him as Mayor San Jose, as a Member of Congress and Cabinet Secretary for Presidents Clinton and Bush. He told the story of his family being taken from their home in California during World War II to an internment camp at Hart Mountain Wyoming because of their Japanese heritage. Norm was an American citizen and Boy Scout, who wore his uniform on the train that took him away from his home to a remote camp surrounded by a barbed wire fences. It was there that he met and shared a tent with another Scout at a Boy Scout Jamboree. Alan Simpson, who lived nearby in Wyoming, was Norm's tent mate. The two boys bonded immediately and mischievously decided to dig a moat around their tent during a big rainstorm to direct the flow of water down into the tent of an annoying bully who was camped next to and below them. This was the beginning of a life-long friendship that brought them together again when Norm as elected to Congress and Alan became a US Senator. This bipartisan pair of public service pioneers were legendary leaders who made lives better for countless people and fought for justice and against racial prejudice, while sharing a deep mutual respect, caring for each other and laughing together over the years. Norm's accomplishments, honors and contributions to the public good are featured through this legacy project. My message is not only to celebrate the incredible accomplishments in every dimension of his career, but more personally to express my gratitude for his gracious way of including so many in his extended family, caring so deeply for his family, mentoring future leaders, building bridges and focusing on results without seeking credit or personal recognition. Norm was driven to improve lives, expand justice and opportunity, and increase the efficiency and safety of transportation and commerce. And he was guided in all things by his loving spirit, belief in his staff and partners, insistence on the best possible outcomes and simply doing the right thing, always. I and so many others whose lives he touched will miss him and ask ourselves frequently, in a variety of situations, "What would Norm do?"

I'm just back from the wonderful memorial service for Norm, and thank you for welcoming me. I knew Norm only briefly, when we served together 2013-15 on a task force trying to advance ATC corporatization. At the service today, several speakers commented that Norm had time for everyone, and that sure was my sense. I remember well sitting with him at task force lunches and yakking about the airline business (I worked for American for 22 years). I felt like he was a long friend. Thank you, Norm, for everything you did to advance mobility, human rights, and so much more.

Norm was a thoughtful and caring friend. On behalf of all former TWA Pilots and Flight Attendants, thank you for caring about us. Thank you for your strong and steady hand on the tiller of the nation’s transportation system in the aftermath of 9-11. Godspeed my friend! You are already missed.

Such a dear sole and gentleman. From play yard basketball at Peter Burnett (1946?) to San Jose Family Camp with our respective young families (1968?). I always considered Norm a good friend, and though he rose to much much greater positions, he always recognized me and remembered me by name. Norm will be greatly missed by many. May he rest in peace. Ted Fletscher

I met Norm at an award dinner in DC in 2007. He was being honored with a lifetime achievement award and I was among a number of additional awardees. During a quiet moment beforehand, he walked up to me, and with a glint in his eye, pointed a finger at me and said, “I know you! Your grandfather used to give us dimes when we helped at his laundry in Saratoga!” What a special surprise, to be recognized by the Honorable Norman Mineta having never met him before! In my head I could hear my father proudly stating that he was a classmate of the Secretary of Transportation and that they crossed paths while interned in Heart Mountain...but that was sixty-five years ago. How did Norm know who I was? In a box of old family photos, I came across a register of baby gifts received by my grandparents when my father was born in 1931. In the ledger was an entry for a quilt from Mr. & Mrs. K. Mineta. I also found a 1951 program for my great-grandmother’s memorial service at the Japanese Methodist Church in San Jose which listed Mrs. K. Mineta as presiding. It was a delight piecing together a bit of my family’s history and discovering long forgotten ties to the Minetas. That spark that Norman gave me in 2007 was a true gift, and I thank him and his parents, Kunisaku and Kane, for inspiring our family on a deeply personal level. Condolences to the entire Mineta family. We shall miss him.

Walking around Japantown San Jose. You never know who you might meet!

Patti Brady sent this along. She was an exchange student to Okayama from San Jose when Norm was a City Councilmember. She said that he personally helped students, doing whatever was needed. Sometimes, it was buying them a hamburger. Sometimes it was a smile when they needed recognition. Sometimes it was a question "Is there anything I can do for you?"

I was a professor at Washington State University between 1986 and 1994. In 1988, the Association for Asian American Studies Convention was held on the WSU campus, and I was able to hear Mr. Mineta's presentation on the passage of the redress legislation. He told a humorous story about how when he was a child, he loved baseball. He wanted to take his baseball bat to the internment camp with him, but government officials determined that this bat could be used as a weapon, so they took it away from him. The then all-time leading home run hitter, Henry Aaron, heard this story, so he signed a bat and gave it to then Rep. Mineta. However, because a signed bat by Aaron was considered very valuable, the government assessed that the bat's value exceeded the government's limit on gifts to public officials, so they confiscated this bat. Mineta jokingly but irritatingly said, "The damned government took away my bat twice!"

When I was approached to create a new NPO in order to co-create and organize the 60th Anniversary Celebrations for the San Jose-Okayama Sister City relationship, I had to think about what would be needed. Stellar people had been involved in this long relationship, the third sister city relationship established in the USA. I spoke to some former members who I had heard had been involved and they wished me luck. I tried speaking to Yoshihiro Uchida, who gave me some good advice and stories. And then, Norm called me to tell me to put his name down as Honorary Advisor to our freshly minted "San Jose-Okayama Sister Cities" 501(c)3 NPO in 2015. My surprised answer "Of course!" & "Thank you!" preceded the flurry of work that then began in earnest. We had a wonderful four days of events in 2017 in San Jose, welcoming 115 delegates and children from Okayama, Japan. And of course, Norm was right. His name gave the relationship and organization the gravity needed to make a serious impression on everyone.

What a Wonderful Man! I first met Norm when he was Chair of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee nearly 35 years ago. I was the head of the public transportation agency in Pittsburgh, PA and went to his office to brief him about our agency and various capital projects we were undertaking. He immediately made me feel welcome and then before I could make my presentation he started telling me all about my projects! I was shocked at how much a Congressman from California knew about Pittsburgh and our projects. But soon I learned that was Norm: always prepared, always warm and always welcoming. In 1996, I left Pittsburgh and came to Washington, D.C. to head the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Though Norm had left the Congress by then, he welcomed me to the city as if he were the mayor giving me the key to the city! Fortunately for me our paths continued to cross. In summer of 2001 APTA invited Transportation Secretary Mineta to give the keynote address at our annual meeting to be held in Philadelphia in October. Then the horrible attacks of September 11 occurred. We assumed Norm would not be able to join us just a few weeks later, but ever the man of his word he came to our meeting and wowed our members with his presence and message of hope. I could go on and on about Norm and my admiration for him. The more I learned of his life story and his many, many accomplishments, the more my appreciation of this wonderful man grew. Everyday tens of millions of Americans use transportation facilities that wouldn't be there had Norm Mineta not been there to do what he did. Rest In Peace Norm. You earned it.

I had the honor and privilege to work with Congressman Mineta in the development, planning, design and construction of the San Jose Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse located at First and San Carlos Sts, now named Robert Peckham Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. I worked for the US General Services Administration based in San Francisco which had the responsibility for all federal construction in the four state region of Region 9. It was a project that engaged the JA professionals in Architecture, Art, and Civic engagement. The firm of Helmuth, Obata, Kassabaum was responsible for the design and several years later Ruth Asawa was commissioned to create the memorial art that is in the Plaza of the building. I had the honor and responsibility to coordinate and manage the design, construction and installation of the projects. I am happy and proud to have been part of a legacy Norm would leave for the people of San Jose and all of Northern California. He was always warm and friendly whenever our paths crossed. He was a guest speaker at a family reunion and called me out when he saw me in the audience surprising my relatives. My wife Emi and I sat across the aisle from him on our way to WDC on one trip and he whispered that he hoped the bag he was carrying wouldn't break as he had jars of tsukemono and takuwan. It was an honor to know him and I express my heart felt condolences to his family. Retired GSA Deputy Regional Administrator for Region 9.

Norm has had a huge impact on my life, meeting him when I was young and decades later inviting him to Adobe 6 years ago to speak to our employees. I recently wrote an article honoring Norm: https://adsknews.autodesk.com/stories/asian-heritage-month He was truly one-of-a-kind, and will be greatly missed.