Yui Jeanne Umehara-Garewal
July 6, 1981 — December 26, 2024

Yui was born in Tucson, Arizona, spent her early years with her family in Japan, before returning to Tucson at age four. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in journalism and spent nearly a decade as a copy editor at the Arizona Daily Star. In 2003, she married Jaz Garewal, whom she met while they were both broadcast media interns at the Arizona Legislature. They had unknowingly attended the same Tucson preschool years before.

Yui left journalism to focus on what she called the most important job of her life: being there for her children. She became a fixture in the Oro Valley community, volunteering in classrooms, serving on the PTO Board at Painted Sky Elementary, and showing up for every event. Her children’s former elementary school principal wrote, “If you’ve been part of our school community anytime in this past decade it is likely you’ve come across Yui’s warm heart and welcoming smile.” She had recently returned to her profession as a copy editor for Positive Promotions in New York.

Then, on December 26, 2024, while traveling on Interstate 10 near Desert Center, California, a driver who had slept approximately three hours in the preceding 36 fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the median, and struck the Garewal family’s vehicle head-on. Yui was killed. Her husband Jaz and their two children, Lilly and Wesley, survived with injuries. The driver was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.

Link: christianmoreland.com