In Memoriam--Joan Green Fuselier & Walter T. Yamashiro

WASHINGTON, D.C. ( May 30) -- Joan Green Fuselier, director of CPSC's area office in Los Angeles, and Walter T. Yamashiro, the CPSC state designee for Hawaii, were among the 273 victims killed in the May 25th crash of an American Airlines jetliner in Chicago.

Both were returning to their homes after attending the 1979 national workshop on consumer product safety in Albany, New York, May 23-25. The workshop was sponsored by CPSC to promote federal and state cooperation.

Fuselier joined CPSC in 1975 as the director of the Los Angeles area office. She had a full career in government service, previously serving as a regional director for the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor, as a contract compliance advisor with that department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance, and as an equal opportunity officer with the Department of Commerce.

Fuselier also had served as a senior deputy probation officer for the Los Angeles County Probation Department. She was a policewoman for eight years with the Los Angeles Police Department.

She graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. A native of Los Angeles, Fuselier lived there most of her life. She is survived by her husband, Leon; two grown children, a daughter, Dale L. Davis, and a son, Earl E. Pierson III; a grandson, Jovan E. Pierson; and her mother, Fay M. Jackson, all of Los Angeles.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. in St. Bernadette's Catholic Church, 3825 Don Felipe Drive, Los Angeles. The funeral service will begin at 9:00 a.m., on Saturday, June 2, at St. Bernadette's.

Walter T. Yamashiro, 44, served as director of the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection in Honolulu since 1974. In that capacity, he acted as the CPSC state designee for Hawaii, serving as a product safety liaison between his state and federal government. Previously he worked as a deputy prosecutor for the City and County of Honolulu, and also for the County of Maui.

A native Hawaiian, he received an undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and a law degree from Hastings Law School in San Francisco.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and their three children, who live in Honolulu.