She died some time in the 90's. She went to Japan, I think and got very sick and ended dying over there from the illness. I ran into her dad at the ProImage in the Yakima Mall and he told me the news at that time.
To the best of my memory here is a brief timeline...
While she was at the University in Walla Walla she was studying I think English as her major and Japanese as her minor.
At some point she had gotten hired by a school in Japan to come over and teach. They flew her over and got her an apartment to start out before the school year began there.
At some point within the first few days of school starting she didn't report to work and no one could contact here so one of the school officials went to look in on her.
When they found her, she was dead. A later autopsy showed that she had died in the night from I believe it was some kind of sudden heart failure.
As Gordy said, it was sometime in the early 90's. I want to say around '92 or '93 but don't remember for sure.
Here is a copy of the Whitman College site that talks about the scholarship program set up by her parents and talks about what happened briefly as well.
Each year, the Connie Jill Carlstrom Endowed Award in Japanese Studies is presented to a promising student of Japanese language and culture who shows great interest in pursuing a career or graduate studies in some aspect of relations between Japan and the United States. Candidates must have achieved junior status and have studied Japanese for at least one academic year at the college level. The award recipient will be selected by a committee of three members of the teaching faculty selected by the Dean of the Faculty.
The award was established in 1993 by the Carlstrom family to honor Jill Carlstrom who died suddenly in the town of Tamamura, Japan, on September 6, 1993. She had just begun teaching in the Japan Exchange Program that is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education. After graduating as an English major, with a minor in Japanese language and literature, in May, 1993, Jill went to Japan in late July to begin preparing for her assignment as an Assistant Language Teacher in two junior high schools.
On the Whitman campus, Jill was an active member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. She studied Japanese for four years at Whitman College and served in her senior year as the Resident Assistant of the Tekisuijuku, the Japanese language interest house on campus. According to Professor Takemoto, "Jill was a vital and important part of the Japanese program. Her sensitivity and love of languages enabled her not only to understand and speak Japanese, but to interpret Japanese culture for those who knew nothing about it. She had the potential to be the perfect bridge between the two cultures."
Lana Sutton (Bray)
I didn't hear about Jill? when and how?Gordy Brown
She died some time in the 90's. She went to Japan, I think and got very sick and ended dying over there from the illness. I ran into her dad at the ProImage in the Yakima Mall and he told me the news at that time.Gordy
Ronald Duerr
To the best of my memory here is a brief timeline...While she was at the University in Walla Walla she was studying I think English as her major and Japanese as her minor.
At some point she had gotten hired by a school in Japan to come over and teach. They flew her over and got her an apartment to start out before the school year began there.
At some point within the first few days of school starting she didn't report to work and no one could contact here so one of the school officials went to look in on her.
When they found her, she was dead. A later autopsy showed that she had died in the night from I believe it was some kind of sudden heart failure.
As Gordy said, it was sometime in the early 90's. I want to say around '92 or '93 but don't remember for sure.
Ronald Duerr
Follow upHere is a copy of the Whitman College site that talks about the scholarship program set up by her parents and talks about what happened briefly as well.
Each year, the Connie Jill Carlstrom Endowed Award in Japanese Studies is presented to a promising student of Japanese language and culture who shows great interest in pursuing a career or graduate studies in some aspect of relations between Japan and the United States. Candidates must have achieved junior status and have studied Japanese for at least one academic year at the college level. The award recipient will be selected by a committee of three members of the teaching faculty selected by the Dean of the Faculty.
The award was established in 1993 by the Carlstrom family to honor Jill Carlstrom who died suddenly in the town of Tamamura, Japan, on September 6, 1993. She had just begun teaching in the Japan Exchange Program that is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education. After graduating as an English major, with a minor in Japanese language and literature, in May, 1993, Jill went to Japan in late July to begin preparing for her assignment as an Assistant Language Teacher in two junior high schools.
On the Whitman campus, Jill was an active member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. She studied Japanese for four years at Whitman College and served in her senior year as the Resident Assistant of the Tekisuijuku, the Japanese language interest house on campus. According to Professor Takemoto, "Jill was a vital and important part of the Japanese program. Her sensitivity and love of languages enabled her not only to understand and speak Japanese, but to interpret Japanese culture for those who knew nothing about it. She had the potential to be the perfect bridge between the two cultures."