Age
0-5 (Infant) 1945-1950
Annabelle Yee Marn was born on January
19, 1945 at Kapiolani Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, on
the island of Oahu. She was the daughter of James Yee Marn
Sr. and Esther Chang. She was part-Hawaiian (1/8) and part-Chinese
and the 3rd oldest out of five children. James Jr, was first,
then Alexander, and after Anna was Eric and then Bea.
During her infancy, the Marn family moved
several times. First, they moved from 2nd Ave and Waialae
to Date St. and Ekela St in 1947. Their second move was to
608 N. Judd St in 1949, the residence where Anna spent most
of her childhood.
Her parents spent much of their
time at the Lumberyard on Houghtailing in Palama, where Damien
H.S. now stands.
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Age
6-14 (Elementary / Intermediate) 1951-1959
While growing up, Anna spent time closely
following her mother, Esther, as she cooked and baked. Her
dedicated learning can be seen in her own cooking. Her children
can attest to that, for they benefited the most from her cooking
and baking.
At the age of ten, she was seriously ill
with rheumatic fever and was physically weak. This life-threatening
event may have made Anna realize the precious life she had
and been the spark to the outgoing, caring thoughtful person
she became as she lived her life.
Anna never was a Girl Scout, but admired
her brothers, James Jr. and Alex, for joining the Boy Scouts.
She envied them after they came back from camp, dirty but
happy with many camping stories to tell. Her interest in the
Boy Scouts was passed on to her own boys, Greg, Roger, and
Michael. She was fortunate enough to witness Roger obtain
the Eagle rank, the highest rank in Boy Scouts. Michael is
on his way to also earning this rank.
With her siblings, she had her fair share
of fights and celebrations. She was a good sister to have.
But, as brother James recalls, "She had a temper".
Her siblings knew there was a limit to teasing her. When Anna
got angry, her siblings were on the receiving end of a withering
retort. James Marn remarks, "I criticized her on something
one day and she told me: ‘You’re no bargain, yourself’.
A statement like that is enough for most guys to shut up."
She was ruthless and intimidating when she had her temper.
No one messed with her, and always agreed with her during
those times. Also, whenever she spoke, it was with credibility.
She always thought before she spoke. None of her siblings
could beat her when it came to "word wars".
Anna spent her first elementary school
years at Ma’ema’e Elementary on Wyllie St, in
Nuuanu Valley from 1951-53. Her children, Roger, Laurie, and
Michael would eventually end up going there too.
ST. THERESA
From 1953-59, she went to St. Theresa’s
located on School St in Liliha, Hawaii.
In 1954, Anna first met Beverly Itokazu
Motokane when she began the 4th grade at St. Theresa School.
But it wasn’t until the 7th grade when they really became
friends. That’s when they had Sr. Bernard Clare, now
known as Sr. Clare as their teacher. Sister Bernard Clare,
taught the class how to square dance, ran a talent show and
invited her students to come to school at night to teach them
the various constellations. She made all the students in her
class a cohesive unit.
The classroom seating was set up so that
starting at the back of the room, the student with the highest
grade sat in the first seat of the last row. Anna was one
of the smartest kids in class, always 1st or 2nd. Beverly
Itokazu Motokane usually ended up in the second row, either
in front of Anna or diagonally across from her. Probably because
of the seating, they became good friends.
Anna also met Dennis Freitas. They were
classmates from the fifth to eighth grade. There were two
classes and Anna was the class scholar. Anna stood out among
the classmates as one of the high achievers. Victoria Love,
Peter Moi, and Norbert Wong were her classmates whom she got
to know because they were in the same high academic standing
group..
In 8th grade, Sister Bernard Claire was
Anna’s homeroom teacher again and this time Anna met
Jeanie Mah.
Anna was studious, plain, funny, friendly
and never ostentatious. She was well liked and respected by
all. The nuns had a special liking for her and she was always
helpful to them. Anna always had a smile on her face and a
laugh coming from her heart.
Her brother James Marn comments, "My
sister, Annabelle was always a live wire when she was growing
up"
But there were other times when she would
sit quietly by herself and read books or newspapers. Some
of it was for homework, but a lot of times she read out of
curiosity and to keep herself informed. She was not only a
fun-person with her classmates, but she did very well in class.
In grade school her report cards were filled with a lot of
A’s and B’s . Getting good grades just seemed
like a natural thing for her.
During her St. Theresa days, her mother,
Esther, would pick her up along with the siblings and they
would visit the Mochi store. The big question for them was,
"Red or White (mochi)?" On other occasions, Esther
would take the kids to Hall St. Saimin, near Tamashiro Market
in Palama. Hall St. Saimin had the best saimin and BBQ beef
sticks in town.
In l955, Anna met Lois Azumano, wife of
Charlie Oyama at the time, on Lois’s first trip to Hawaii.
Esther Marn would have the family over for a big Chinese dinner
and cook in the big kitchen in back of the house. Anna and
Lois would do a lot of talking while they were cutting vegetables
and doing dishes for the family at these dinners. Elizabeth
Oyama (Aunty Ah Lan) always said how bright Anna was regarding
her studies and business ability. She believed that Anna acquired
her business skills from her mom, Esther.
On occasion, Flossie Ching (Auntie Flossie)
and husband John Sherwood would visit the Marns. Uncle John
had a pet name for Anna, "Anna Banana". They both
thought it was a cute name. This nickname also came up at
St. Theresa’s. The school kids would tease her "Anna
Banana" and it was hard for her to handle all that teasing.
Even as a young child, Anna showed signs
of a good work ethic. She was seen by Aunty Flossie scrubbing
the family laundry at the side of the garage at the outdoor
wash basins even though they had a washer. She was washing
the delicate clothes.
Esther Marn went on business
trips to China. Aunty Flossie recalls, Anna was "such
a good girl and so helpful - was very serious and polite whenever
we were visiting". Between 1954-1960, the 5 Marn kids
would visit Hickam to bring gifts for Clay and Cindy Sherwood,
2 gifts from each of them for a total of 10 gifts.
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Age
14-18 (High School) 1959-1963
She was at Sacred Hearts Academy in freshmen,
sophomore, and Senior Year. Sacred Hearts Academy put the
finishing touches on her academic life and more important
gave her a solid foundation in the Catholic religion.
In "green" freshmen year, she
met a favorite teacher of her’s, Sister Anne-Marie.
She was Anna’s homeroom teacher and English class. At
SHA, students didn’t move, teachers moved from class
to class. She was loved by all her classmates. She was joyful
and full of fun, giving affection and friendliness to all.
Girls in Sister Anne-Marie class depended so much on what
Annabelle said or did because she was so funny. She was funny
when she imitated polka dancing in school. She was funny in
everything. Anna never made fun of people, but she found joy
and laughter in the daily ordinary anecdotes that happened
in classroom situations. As a student, she was academically
very bright and had the talent to share it -- her thoughts
on what was important in life. She respected the Catholic
religion and lived her Catholic life to the hilt.
Before junior prom, Anna, Lorene Aki ,
Elaine Kaneshiro and Beverly Itokazu Motokane took dates to
St. Theresa’s convent to show Sr. Clare our prom dresses.
Junior Prom dates thought it was strange.
In Senior year, Anna and Pearllette Victor
Simao got to know each other a little better, since Anna sat
right in front of her. Pearllette laughs as she remembers,
"She cut her eyelashes because she thought they would
grow back thicker"
Anna joined the Junior Chinese Catholic
Club. Although Beverly Itokazu Motokane was Japanese, Anna
was in the Club so she joined. They spent a lot of time together
and became good friends. Some of the people Anna hung out
with in high school included: Lorene Aki, Almira Chun Craig,
Lauralei Yuen Nagai, Bette Ann Chu, Sydney Chun, Lana Lum
Au, Lynette Lum Becker, Bernie Yee Gaskell, Elaine Kaneshiro,
Joan Leong Nakashima, Peter Estomago, Rodney Go, Gary Chang,
Mel Leong, James Araki, Mike Chu. The guys from St. Louis
formed the sports teams and competed while the girls from
SHA went out to cheer for them. The girls formed basketball
and volleyball teams and the boys came out to cheer them.
Anna was very athletic. They also did other things, like scavenger
hunts, and parties. They also did humanitarian things. At
Christmas time they would go to various hospitals and sing
carols to those who were stuck there, away from home during
the holidays.
Anna also formed a girls social club,
the Rosettes. The club would get together with boys’
social clubs for dances. They’d meet up with social
clubs from other schools.
Anna was helpful and obedient
to her parents. When her mom, Esther, needed help, she would
send Anna to collect rents from the tenants in the back of
Judd St. Anna knew exactly what to do. She took the rent receipt
book and came back with the job accomplished.
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Age
19-21 (College) 1963-1967
Anna’s freshmen year in college
was spent at the University of Hawaii. She lived in a dorm,
one of the circular dorms on Dole St.
Then her sophomore year, she transferred
to UCLA.
Anna met Helen Takasaki Horiuchi when
they were living at Hershey Hall. It was an all girls dorm
on campus, which is now a coed dorm for graduate students,
and close to the Medical center. Helen was a year ahead of
Anna at UCLA. She stayed in a room across the hall from Anna.
Anna and Helen always had so much fun together, laughing and
enjoying whatever activities were on campus. They played Ping-Pong
after dinner in Hershey Hall courtyard, and was a pretty good
Ping-Pong player.
Helen Takasaki Horiuchi had joined a water
ski club at UCLA and Anna joined in. They water skied in Long
Beach Bay and even tried a trip to Colton’s man-made
water ski park with a cable that would tow the skier around
in a big circle. Anna made it all the way around without falling!
She was quite amazing. She was never very boastful about her
accomplishments.
One summer Helen Takasaki Horiuchi went
home with Anna to San Martin. They stopped at Helen’s
parent’s home in Reedley first and continued north.
There were 3 of them in her mustang. At San Martin, Helen
met Anna’s family for the first time. We traveled to
Berkeley one day. During this trip, one of Anna’s brothers
graduated from Santa Clara College, and met up with Anna’s
sister Beatrice.
In 1964-65, Anna met Cathy Liao in Hershey
Hall. Cathy came from Taiwan to pursue her Ph.D. in Biology.
Anna was an undergraduate student in business. Cathy recalls,
"She was a very brave and strong young woman, always
proud of her heritage and not afraid to be different".
Anna always included me in the feasts at Chinatown when Anna’s
parents came to visit. She also shared the Chinese goodies
and vegetables her parents brought her.
Anna also met Darlene Quon Lem at Hershey
Hall. Darlene remembers Anna’s Hawaiian accent, great
sense of humor, and warmth, with a terrific laugh. Anna was
sincere and honest to those who she spoke with. She had great
bonding and fellowship in the dorm. Annabelle’s roommate
was Erma??, a beautiful, talented artist with red hair. Anna
was curious to learn about Erma’s ceramics and the elements
of design. Her eyes were wide open saying "Oh yeah!".
She was a good friend to those she befriended and could be
counted on if ever needed to talk to b/c she was absolutely
nothing "phony" about her.
In September of 1965, Anna made friends
with Shirley Chang at Mira Hershey Hall. Shirley was starting
the master's program in nursing at UCLA. Anna brightened Shirley’s
day. Her humor and unpretentious ways made her feel immediately
happy and comfortable. We became good friends and roomed together
the 2nd semester (Spring, 1966).
The big event at the dorm in 1st semester
of Junior Year was 1965 Miss America, Vonda Van Dyke, was
living at their dorm. Everyone was trying to figure out who
she was, but no one asked each other at first, until Anna
asked. Then after that, they kept looking around to figure
out who she was, and of course only one person who was brave
enough to ask that person -- Anna. She asked quite a few girls,
and none of them were THE ONE. Can you imagine this young
girl from Hawaii approaching girls who looked sophisticated,
or very pretty (usually dressed quite well, makeup, etc.)
and asking them if they were Miss America -- it was really
funny!! Finally, one day she said, "I found out who SHE
is!" and she pointed her out to us.
In 2nd semester of Junior Year, a traumatic
event occurred. Early one morning someone came knocking on
Shirley Chang’s door, while she was still sleeping,
and said, "Your roommate is on the floor in the bathroom!!"
She bolted out the door to see Anna fainted. She was diagnosed
in the ER as a drug overdose!! -- from the cold medicine!
Guess she didn't feel good and had taken a pill, which didn't
help. So she took a couple more and got really dizzy when
she went to the bathroom. She didn't want to wake Shirley
up and had gone quietly to the bathroom. Shirley slept like
a log throughout all of this. The irony of it is Shirley’s
a nurse but let her roommate OD on cold medicine. Anna used
that drug for everything. Every time one of her friends had
any kind of a symptom, she would offer it (It had a really
funky name! Doan’s?). Needless to say, after that she
didn't take that anymore!
What dorm? One of Anna’s roommates
was a grad student, older than the others in the dorm and
married. Her name was Yvette Cloud. They got along perfectly
and Yvette remembers that Anna was "quiet and studied!
She was usually serious but she had her fun moments".
Anna also had days when she would get up "on the wrong
side of bed". Not to worry though, she warned Yvette
of those days so she would be left alone until she was her
"sunny" self again. Yvette loved tomatoes so Anna
and her friends would collect all the tomatoes from the salad
bar behind the cafeteria crews backs. Anna also organized
a baby shower for Yvette since she was pregnant. She always
said to Yvette that Hawaii was too confining and wanted to
get out and hit the mainland. She was unhappy with her looks,
her skin especially, yet she was very trim, but Yvette thought
it looked good.
She also met Elise Lee in Hershey Hall.
Both of them decided to leave Hershey Hall and move over to
Hilgard House due to expenses, since Hilgard didn’t
serve dinners on the weekend. This opened up the opportunity
for the two to cook the rice they missed so much. They tried
to cook rice with a small pot and portable stove. The rice
didn’t turn out too good, but it was enjoyable. Although
they didn’t see each other during the day due to different
majors, they would go over to the library in the evenings.
Elise recalls, "I remember Annabelle as the most willing
to help others and she was not afraid to speak her mind. She
was always so bubbly."
In 1964, Anna lived in Hilgard House and
her roommate was Esther Nelson Angel. Hilgard House was a
boarding dorm next to a lovely church that chimed every hour.
Anna was on the bottom bunk, Esther on the top. Anna was a
good student, according to Esther, and always encouraging
Esther to study. She would say to Esther, "Hey! You’d
better study. You’ve got exams you know." On Sundays,
the cafeteria wasn’t open so everyone had to feed themselves.
Anna had a store of food in her closet: Macadamia nuts, canned
goods, etc. She would share this with friends. She also had
a favorite food: spinach. She would open a can of spinach
and cook it "in" the can on a butane burner.
As thanks for being such a good
roommate, Esther gave Anna her beautiful Pieta, a white sculpture
of Mary holding the body of Christ. Anna loved it so much,
for it expressed the love of a mother for her son. The sculpture
is still around in Anna’s house. Laurie, her daughter
now takes care of it.
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Age
22-26 (Marriage/ Post College) 1967-1971
Anna graduated from UCLA with a Bachelors
in ________. In December of 1967, she moved out to "The
Pines", a two-story apartment building on ___ Bundy Drive
in West LA. Shirley Ching Chang had been living there until
she moved to Loma Linda School to live with Marian Frazier.
Anna took Shirley’s place and lived with Audrey Ching
Kim and Helen Takasaki Horiuchi. Between the girls, they were
pretty good cooks. Anna knew how to make each grocery dollar
stretch, so we always had plenty to eat and share. Helen learned
a lot about Chinese cooking from Anna and Audrey. Audrey was
working on her masters thesis at UCLA. Helen was working and
attending classes at UCLA for my masters. Anna was busy going
to job interviews, while temporarily working at Bullocks for
6 months. It was a stressful time for her, until she found
a job with IRS.
Shirley introduced Marian Frazier to Anna
and it was great friendship at first sentence. They would
fix meals together when Shirley and Marian would drive into
Santa Monica to visit Anna’s place.
There was a time when Anna make jump suits
for all four of us girls. She chose each girls favorite color.
Marian Frazier’s was navy blue with red and white stars
printed all over. She was so pleased that each jump suit fit
perfectly because we were each very different in both height
and weight.
Anna took Marian Frazier to a UCLA basketball
game with another student's ID card. The girl on the ID did
not look one bit like Marian except that she was oriental,
too. Marian was scared they would notice but Anna just waved
that card so fast and pulled Marian in. Magic Johnson was
the star of the evening.
On July 5, 1967, Annabelle met Lynn Casimir.
That day, both of them had to report for duty at the IRS -
300 N Los Angeles St, LA, CA. The session was scheduled to
start at 8:30 am. There were about 300 new employees reporting
that day: auditors, revenue agents, revenue officers, etc.
Lynn was late for the orientation, tiptoed in, and sat in
the back of the room on a borrowed chair. A few minutes later,
Anna arrived, looked around and began standing in the back.
Lynn offered her 1/2 of the chair and they became instant
friends. They were in the same group for basic training, collaborated
and consulted each other on every case, held contests on production
results to ease the sometimes boredom of walk-in audits, and
formed a circle of about 6 friends that helped each other
along throughout the training phase.
After that first meeting at training,
Anna and Lynn shared many memorable moments together. Anna
and Lynn each had acne, so they found a dermatologist in San
Bernandino who actually did a "puncture and drain"
procedure, which is what Anna was looking for. They got through
work at 4:30, and we had to be to his office by 5 for their
appointments - she would drive and Lynn’s job was to
ride turned around, watching the rear for police. They never
got a ticket, and were never late for the appointment. A trip
that would normally take almost an hour one way, they did
in half an hour.
Lynn and Anna each loved to play cards,
and to gamble. During their first few trips over to Las Vegas
on their own, they played mostly blackjack. One of them would
play while the other would stand behind as "coach",
in case there was a difficult decision to be made, but also
to help keep track of the cards that had come and gone already
(In those days, it was easier to track the cards). They did
moderately well, usually playing for several hours the evening
they arrived, slept, then headed home.
They’d usually meet with Anna’s
parents when they came down from the San Martin farm that
they had at the time. Esther was always following James around
the tables, trying to nag him into quitting if he was losing,
trying to get him to give her the chips if he was winning.
Lynn’s job, assigned by Anna and Esther, was either
to distract him and they would scoop away some of the chips,
or to get him to give me a handful to play and then Lynn was
to turn them over.
Many people wonder how and when Anna became
the expert "crap shooter" that she was. The following
event will explain it all. Lynn and Anna had done quite well
on slot machines at the Lady Luck casino. They had a "system"
of standing around and watching while people poured a lot
into slots. When the people left, they would swoop in and
play, and hopefully collect the medium sized payoffs. They
became tired of slots, and went over to the Mint for a buffet,
and picked up some coupons for the crap table, which they
did not understand. The casino was advertising free crap lessons
so they went. It was a film and they sat through it once,
discussed what we learned, sat through it again, then headed
to the tables without coupons. The casino was very slow, and
the dealers at the crap table were patient, and eventually
they were "hooked"-they left with the most money
they had ever won, had a great time, and couldn't wait to
get back. Now, they had a "system " for Craps as
well.
Everyone moved out of Bundy Dr and Helen
was getting married. Anna, Audrey and Shirley were in Helen’s
wedding. Anna gave Helen a wonderful bridal shower. She organized
the games.
From Bundy Dr. Anna bought a 3 unit property
on 2408 ½ Shenandoah St. in LA. The front unit had
four bedrooms, the middle was a studio and the one bedroom
in the back is where Anna stayed. She rented the rest of the
property out. She had lots of friends whom she invited over
to Shenandoah every other week.
Soon after, Lynn Casimir rented an apartment
next door the same day that Annabelle found out it was available.
Anna spent close times with Lynn when she was at Shenandoah
St. They were literally close, geographically. The front door
of Casimir’s was 50 feet from Anna’s Stairway.
During these times, both of them were avid sewers and Shenandoah
became a factory production, swapping tasks and responsibilities.
They were also cooks, swapping dinners every night. A chance
for them to experience totally different foods. They made
croshe flowers and brides dresses. They both were born in
the year of the monkey, Type A, and millions-of-projects type
of people.
SPOUSE:
During her time out of college, she went
to FOB parties (Fresh Off the Boat), with Mira. In July of
1969, Anna met James Keh-Ming Dunn (Jim) at one of these FOB
parties. At the time, Jim lived in Monterey Park. Jim had
just graduated from USC with a Masters in EE in January of
1969. When Anna met Jim, she was super excited about him.
She would talk non-stop and smile a lot. They saw each other
once every two weeks and Anna would invite Jim to her usual
Shenandoah parties. They got engaged (when?) and began seeing
each other once or twice a week. A few weeks later went to
Palo Alto to visit all the family, because Esther Akau, Anna’s
grandma on her dad’s side had passed away at Stanford
Medical.
When she met Jim, she could hardly wait
to introduce him to Cathy Liao and her husband. Jim has a
similar background to theirs; he came from Taiwan to get his
Ph.D. in the U.S. They clicked immediately.
Audrey Ching Kim, Anna’s Bundy Dr.
roommate, introduced her cousin, Claire Yeh to Anna and Jim
because Audrey thought it was a good idea for them to meet
since Jim and Claire Yeh’s husband were both from Taiwan
and Claire and Anna were both from Hawaii.
Anna had scars from her pimples so she
decided that she would have her face planed as a surprise
for James. James didn’t understand why she would not
let him come to the apartment while her face healed. The face
planing was a big success and her skin was smooth and pretty.
Beverly Itokazu Motokane, and husband,
Earl (now divorced) attended Anna and Jim’s and went
to their home on Bundy Drive for an informal reception. During
your parents’ time in Los Angeles, Earl and I were invited
over to their home for get-togethers. One thing that I loved
about Anna was that she loved to get people interacting. She’d
have us playing charades and other games.
Marriage:
Got married on January 31, 1970. Audrey
Ching Kim was the matron of honor, a friend since after college.
Yvette and her husband was at her wedding. She recalls, "My
idea of the "reserved" Chinese was shattered forever."
There was the mass, reception, and the Chinese dinner. Chinese
dinner held at New Moon Restaurant, 910 S. San Pedro, LA,
CA. The Bridal gown was borrowed from Shirley Chang.
Helen, Audrey, and Shirley were honored
to be in Anna's wedding. It was Helen’s first time at
a Catholic wedding, let alone being in one. Audrey Ching Kim
and Shirley Ching had a time trying to figure out when to
kneel, stand, etc. They caused Anna a bit of anxiety -- she
had to keep them in line, plus make sure everything went well.
Esther Nelson attend her wedding and asked
Anna to be her oldest daughter, Laura, godmother. She was
given this honor because Esther knew she was a devout Catholic
and a moral person. And she babysat Laura on occasion, so
it seemed only proper.
While working for the IRS at the LA office,
she met Rebecca Relf. Rebecca Relf recalls, "Annabelle
loved her children and eight would not have been enough(smile)".
In late 1972, She was already working
for the IRS and was converting to a Revenue Agent. She first
Rick Marchioni. She and Lynn Segal were the mature (not old)
members. They taught us new agents the proper way to act (and
how to have acceptable fun) while on the job.
Jim and Anna stayed in Shenandoah
until November of 1972. From there they moved to Hawaii after
IRS assignments to settle down and have a family. She had
always wanted to go back home and it was finally coming true.
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Age
27-40 (Kids/ Motherhood) 1972-1985
The road to children and parenthood was
not an easy one. Anna had a miscarriage in ’71, and
’72. Claire Yeh had recommended that both Anna and Jim
take Shaklee vitamins, which Anna did and wrote a note back
to Claire, saying she gives these food supplements most of
the credit for helping her come to full term with her first
child. She used to pick them up from Clarie Yeh’s mother,
who lives in Hawaii. Then she saw Dr.Gail Lee in ’73,
who helped tremendously.
There were Hawaii IRS vacancies and Anna
asked Casimir to come to work in Hawaii. Lynn Casimir and
her husband was chosen for two of the three vacancies open.
Lynn and Anna enjoyed good times like before.
On October 17, 1974, Greg Yen-Yu Dunn
was born at Kapiolani Hospital in Honolulu.
Lynn Casimir moved in with the Dunns when
Greg was born. The birth of Greg was a defining moment because
she began concentrating on the family. Now her FAMILY was
not so much the Marns, as it was the Dunns: her husband and
son...and later her other children. Her focus and priority
was going to be her kids.
The Dunns first house in Hawaii was at
7508 Muolea Place in Hawaii Kai between February ’74
– July ’77. They had a nice dog that Greg could
play with. Close by lived Anna’s brother James, and
his wife Jeanne.
Lynn eventually moved back to the mainland,
but once or twice a year, Anna would stop by LA for IRS training.
While going to training, she went to LV with Casimir, and
she and Casimir always won on the crap table. Lynn reminisce,
"they were the most carefree fun times". But once
they brought along their husbands and lost on the crap tables.
It was a two-couple LV trip. They blamed their losing streak
on the guys. This was the first and last time they brought
along their husbands.
In 1977, Anna met Ann Green at the IRS,
when Ann moved from VA. to Honolulu. Anna was one of the few
female agents at that time, so Ann was naturally drawn to
her immediately. They became close friends in the two years
Ann lived in Hawaii. In 1979 Ann Green and her husband moved
to Oregon. The routine during this time was on Fridays a number
of co-workers, called the "lunch bunch", met for
lunch at different restaurants in Honolulu. No matter where
they were they tried to meet for lunch on Friday. Also, there
were several times Anna and Ann went clothes shopping together.
On February 7, 1980, Roger Yen-Hao Dunn
was born at Queens Hospital in Honolulu.
On August 18, 1981, Laurie Yen-Fen Dunn
was born at Queens Hospital in Honolulu.
It was the same year as Darlene Lem’s
daughter. There was talk about the thought, "Wouldn’t
it be wonderful if the 2 girls could meet at UCLA?" Well,
Laurie now goes to Wellesley and Kristen goes to Amherst College
both near Boston, same grade.
Anna met Jadine Lau at the IRS office.
Jadine knew Anna always had a busy schedule with office work,
the family business and her childrens’ schedules. She
would always check her organizer to review her schedules.
She always had time for everyone.
In early October 1983, Anna first met
Leonard Neves, when he transferred to the Honolulu District
office of the Internal Revenue Service as the Large Case Manager.
Annabelle and he had a lot in common. They were both career
Federal employees; her family and mine are both Catholic;
both born and raised in Honolulu; and, both shared a respect
for a quality education for our children. They shared coffee
breaks, bowling (practice, tournaments, and a bowling league),
and many lunches. Once a week, four or five co-workers (sometimes
more) went out to lunch. Anna liked the ox tail stew. The
others in the group included Carl Tanigawa, Ralph Osoro, and
Randy Tanahara, plus others, including spouses for some events.
In 1983, Rebecca Relf visited Hawaii,
the same week that Anna’s father, James Marn Sr. passed
away. After the burial Anna still made time because of her
"kindness and loving self" to meet Rebecca at the
hotel and take her out to breakfast. Esther Marn tagged along.
Whenever Anna was in LV, she made it a point to visit Rebecca.
Rebecca Relf comments, "Annabelle loved life - the ski
trips, traveling and really did enjoy the gambling. She once
wrote that on most of her trips to Las Vegas she helped to
build at least one casino/hotel (smile)."
As the years went by, Anna’s reputation
at the IRS was growing and becoming more impressive. She was
one of the best Revenue agents. She could follow transactions,
and the ramifications. She was an excellent employee. Many
co-workers could attest to these statements.
In 1984, Anna met Louis Barron, an int’l
examiner in the IRS Honolulu office. She had requested his
assistance in a large IRS case involving a taxpayer whose
business included transactions with individuals who resided
in a foreign country. The case was resolved successfully by
collecting a lot of taxes for the government. Her intellect
and professionalism impressed Lou and they became very good
friends.
When Greg was in the 5th grade, he participated
in the Cub Scouts, Pack 42 at Maryknoll School. Anna was really
active with the annual Cub Scout Pinewood derby, a all-day
event where the scouts build their own wooden car and race
it down an inclined track. She met Clayton Chang, the cubmaster
at the time, and knew his wife Maureen really well. They were
good friends. They also knew each other from St. Theresa/SHA
grad ’67 and Maureen sisters grad in ’66 and ’64.
(confirm with Maureen Chang)
On November 11, 1985, Michael
Yen-Huei Dunn was born at Kaiser Medical in Honolulu.
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Age
41-50 (Post-Children) 1986-1996
In 1986, an Int’l examiner was needed
in Honolulu because of the increasing work there. Lou recommended
Anna for the position and she got it. Congratulations!! Anna
had become an International Agent. Lou became Anna’s
instructor coaching international taxation. Together, they
resolved a lot of tough cases in Honolulu. Lou recalls, "In
all these cases, your mother’s intellect and professionalism
always led to a successful resolution of the cases."
Soon, Anna was going for Int’l Agent
training on the mainland in Los Angeles for her group meeting
and her first phase of training, as the new International
Specialist in Hawaii. Anna met Janice Marshall, on her first
trip to Los Angeles. Janice could tell it was a new job that
Anna was very proud to be selected to do. She was very apprehensive
because she would be the only international specialist so
far from the rest of us on the mainland. Janice Marshall had
been doing this work since 1983 and was well aware that it
takes a year or two to get used to the vast amount of information
required to perform the work. Janice told Anna that she would
be in "shell shock" for at least a year or so, and
that she should not worry because we would all be available
to help her or find someone who could. Well, Anna did just
fine. From time to time they contacted each other on issues.
Janice helped Anna and vice versa. And each time she returned
to Los Angeles for additional training, they met up.
In the late 1980’s, Janice Marshall
visited Honolulu on a Job. Anna met Janice for lunch and later
arranged to have no less than the Branch Chief take us on
a drive around Diamond Head. Anna would giggling about the
wondrous things Hawaii had to offer. How pleased and proud
she was to show off such beauty.
Then in 1990, Annabelle met Cliff Toyama
who became the second International Examiners, specializing
in the foreign tax. They were the only two international examiners
in the Honolulu post of duty, and within the Honolulu office,
they would refer to each other as partners.
There were lots of "Continuing Professional
Education" (CPE) classes held in LA attended by Int’l
examiners from all over the US. Anna and Cliff Toyama attended
these events and this is where they got to know each other
better. They stayed at very nice hotels while they were in
Los Angeles, thanks to Anna’s ability to convince the
reservation managers to give us the lower government rates
even if they were booked.
In 1991, Anna met Carol Bennett because
both of them were International Examiners for the IRS. They
met in a training class in Los Angeles and went to lunch almost
every day of the training. Whenever Anna was in Los Angeles,
Carol always tried to go to dinner or lunch with her. Carol
thought Anna was a very nice and generous person. Sometimes
Anna would let Carol stay with her in her hotel room if the
training was a long way from Carol’s home. One such
occasion was a training class in Long Beach. The commute was
almost an hour. She was very generous and allowed Carol to
stay with her.
In LA, she bumped into her old friend
from 1972, Rick Marchioni, who was the instructor for the
classes that she attended. Rick thought it was always fun
to see her and Cliff Toyama when they came to the mainland
for CPE or classes.
Like most CPEs, the attendees were there
to learn, but it was not all work and no play. Since Anna
and Cliff were away from home, families, and work, the atmosphere
was a bit more casual and a lot less formal. They had and
made a lot of friends in the Los Angeles District, with whom
they would go to dinners and do other activities after work.
Anna liked to golf and go to Las Vegas;
the foremost of which was golf.
Anna had a passion for the game of golf.
Anna’s first time on the golf course was with Cliff
and Lou. She had taken a few lessons, but as most beginners,
she was having a rough time. She was riding with Lou who was
given her all kinds of lessons, and trying to make the game
easier for her, including tips that were against the rules
of golf. After that first day, the "four-some" would
all get a big laugh out of the things she would do on the
golf course, such as teeing up her golf ball in the fairway,
tossing her ball out of rough and back into the fairway and
other minor things to make her next shot a little easier.
When told about her infractions of the rules of golf, she
would look embarrassed, and claim than she was innocent and
that Lou said it was okay to do it. But to Anna’s credit,
she learned quickly, and became a very accomplished golfer
in a relatively short time. She was a tough competitor, and
loved the challenges that the game of golf offers. She became
an addict to the game and would do anything to be on the golf
course. (even skip a day of work). Her wish was to retire
from work and just play golf as much as she possibly could.
Anna equally loved going to Las Vegas.
On several occasions Anna, Cliff, and several agents from
LA, such as Lou, went to LV for a good time of gambling. Lou
remembers "that despite all of the hard work that we
ran into and the fun that we had, the one thing that mattered
most to her was always ‘her family’."
There were many happy times spent on the
crap tables as we went casino hopping. Those who went with
her to the casinos knew she was THE crap guru. She knew the
game and she knew how to play it, and she wasn't afraid to
press it. Cliff attests, "I can't think of anyone who
could bring a crap table to life like your mother."
When Anna came to LA for Unit 2 of International
Training, a group of ladies from the class went to Las Vegas
for one of the long weekends. That morning there was an earthquake
in Las Vegas. The East Coast people were ready to go home
and were really scared. But Annabelle wasn't phased by it
and considered it a wakeup call to head back to the casino
for a final visit before returning to class. She, of course,
returned to Las Vegas again before returning home. NONE of
the out-of-towners went back, saying they wanted the ground
to stay still.
Sharla Jensen, Anna’s cousin, and
Anna would travel to their favorite place Las Vegas and gamble
to the wee hours of the night. When in Vegas the schedule
was like this: gamble at night, sleep in, then shop til’
we drop, eat, eat, eat, then on to the crap table. Her favorite
food was a whole lobster. This was a "must" whenever
we were in Vegas. She ate lobster at least twice while they
were there. On the plane rides home they could not stop giggling
because they were reminiscing about all the crazy and stupid
things they did.
Anna also loved to shop. Cliff Toyama,
on more than one occasion, had to hunt her down in the mall
to remind her that they had a plane to catch. It was particularly
bad if the malls had a red tag sale. She could smell a bargain
sale five days before it started, and if the stores didn't
have a sale, she would try and convince the manager to start
one.
Anna and Sharla Jensen would meet for
lunch during the week. They tried to meet at least twice a
month for lunch. Sharla would pick her up at work and they
would be gone for two hours. Anna never seemed to mind going
back to work late.
When Michael Dunn was still a toddler,
Anna found a babysitter for him, Lorraine Castro. She babysat
Michael for 2 years. Anna would visit Lorraine even when she
wasn’t babysitting Michael, bringing goodies and gifts
during Christmas. She was always thinking of Lorraine and
would drop by often.
Reunions:
Anna kept in touch with Sister Anne-Marie
closely. After her wedding, when she had kids, and even when
Sister took a mission to Japan, Anna sent her letters and
photos of the family. Sister says, "It’s been about
30 years now since we first met and she has never forgotten
me."
Anna loved keeping in touch with her Alma
Mater and all her friends. This can be seen in her energy
in organizing class reunions. She organized class reunions
for her grade school, St. Theresa’s, and high school,
Sacred Hearts Academy. These reunions usually were held in
Las Vegas.
In 1989, Anna organized St. Theresa’s 8th grade class
reunion in Hawaii. We all chipped in and brought Sr. Clare
to Hawaii from Minnesota. It was the BEST ever. This wasn’t
the only time that she had gotten our 8th grade class together.
In 1992, Sacred Hearts Academy had their
25th high school reunion at Las Vegas, joint reunion with
St. Louis high school. She coordinated the reunion with Randy
Leong, president of St. Louis class. All the girls got to
see the boys that they went to grade school with as well as
the guys in the Junior Chinese Catholic Club.
Anna track Jeanie Mah down for St Theresa’s
30 years reunion, through her sister, Maureen Chang, whose
son Brandon Chang was in the Scouts together with Anna’s
son Gregory. Anna knew Maureen Chang for several years but
did not realized Maureen Chang was related to Jeanie Mah.
In 1994, Jeanie Mah finally met up with
Anna during her visit home. Anna invited Jeanie and Maureen
Chang out for a wonderful and delicious Chinese seafood. They
dined and chatted all night about old times and family. Anna
was the only person in Jeanie Mah’s graduating class
that she ever got connected with after 36 years!
Anna got to know Pearllette Victor Simao
better while planning SHA 25th reunion. They had so many pre-reunion
gatherings. Anna took charge of all the arrangements, got
the best deals(with her connections) and organized everything.
Simao remarks, "She had a way of making us feel that
we should and wanted to attend these function. She was not
only generous with her time, but also with her money."
One of the things about Anna that they all remember is her
black organizer, which was like a bible to her (full of important
numbers and information). She was so very informed.
She tried to meet our classmates on the
mainland whenever she traveled.
In 1995, Anna planned her classmates’
50th birthday reunion, held at Las Vegas. She taught some
of her classmates how to shoot craps on that trip. That made
the reunion most enjoyable for everyone. Those that won were
happy. Those that did not play experienced the same joy by
hearing the joyous winning stories of the others. By the way,
no one lost when they were with Anna.
Visits to Relatives and Friends:
Anna’s most admirable characteristic
was her respect for her elderly and her concern and care for
those in distressful times.
Yasuki Oyama (Uncle Base) always spoke
highly of Anna and how kind she was to him after Aunty Alan
died.
She also visited Mary Marn (Aunty Mary)
at her house. Roger would go there and play his ukulele because
she enjoyed the instrument.
In April 1994, Anna was able to track
down Leonard and Bea Neves and call to express her condolences
when Leonard Neves’ mother-in-law died in Kona. Leonard
and Bea were visiting with Bea's brother, Harry, after the
funeral when the phone rang. Harry answered and said "she's
right here", and passed the phone to Bea. It was Annabelle.
She saw the obituary, saw Bea's name as a survivor, noted
the date of the funeral, noted the names of Bea's brothers
that lived in Kona, obtained the phone number, and connected
on the first try. Leonard and Bea had arrived about five minutes
before. Harry was amazed at how easily Annabelle was able
to track down Bea.
In another instance, around 1995, Anna
was able to attend the funeral for Marian Frazier’s
husband's mother in California even though she lived in Hawaii.
Marian Frazier’s husband, Larry, was so surprised and
touched. The Frazier’s had been living in CA and had
not kept in touch except at Christmas. She stayed at the reception
for a long time and we caught up on each other’s news.
Between 1994-96, Maureen Chang, who Anna
met through Greg’s Cub Scouts, had a stroke. She came
to visit Maureen, and Clayton remarks that she was one of
the few friends who came over to see her.
In March of 1996, She was able to witness
something she always wanted to see…. Roger achieve the
highest rank in Boy Scouts, Eagle.
In June of 1996, She was able to witness
her eldest son, Gregory, graduate from MIT.
She went to Boston to see Greg’s
Graduation. On this trip she got to see Lynn Casimir for the
last time. Lynn believes, "She willed herself to live
until she saw her son graduate." She was so happy to
see Greg at MIT.
On June 20, 1996, Anna passed away in
Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA.
She died of colon cancer.
Here is the Dunn family status
TODAY, August 15, 2000. James Dunn is now retired and enjoying
retirement very much. He stays busy walking, overlooking property,
and investments. Greg, the oldest son, is enrolled at UCLA
Medical school to become a doctor. He is currently doing his
residence. Roger, the second oldest, is attending Northwestern
University near Chicago. He is a junior and this fall is studying
abroad in Beijing China. Laurie, the only girl, is going to
Wellesley College near Boston for her sophomore year. Michael,
the youngest, is going to Kamehameha Schools, an private school
for Hawaiian students.
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Characteristics
Anna loved her family caused she always
talked about them. She was very proud of her kids. She was
always investing, reinvesting, buying property. Wanted to
build a legacy for the kids.
She was an excellent letter writer. Her
kids have excellent letter writing too.
She didn’t have much respect for
the law and police officers. Always speeding, always late,
always had too much stuff to do. Didn’t like to follow
the rules.
EXAMPLE: She had a conflict with an officer
and she asked the officer for the social security number.
A big no-no for IRS agents. Officer told his boss which got
to her IRS boss, who then sent her to the Examiner. She practiced
telling the story that she only asked for the number out of
work ethic. It worked, she wasn’t fired but it was a
scary time.
She had a high tolerance for pain. Didn’t
like seeing doctors. Always had problems with her upper shoulders,
back, neck.. Pounded her back.
She was a very strong person on the outside,
but very sensitive on the inside. She did not express her
feelings openly too often unless she was comfortable with
the person.
Anna was the most generous person ever.
She always thought of her family and friends first.
She was funny all the time. She had the
best stories and she loved to tease in a kind way. Then she
would laugh that infectious laugh, such a wonderful laugh.
She was fun to be around.
Your mom never ever sat still.
She fidgeted with her hands or feet. She never seemed to get
tired either. Friends would tease her about being hyper active.
She would say, "Oh yeah?, not really, huh?"
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