Clara Iwaasa: Serving Behind the Scenes

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• Clara Iwaasa is a wonderful woman who has contributed behind the scenes to the history preservation in Brooks. 

• Clara has roots in several different countries; her father was born in Scotland and travelled to Canada to trap and hunt furs in 1914. Her mother was Métis, with French, Scottish and Native American heritage. 

• Her parents were married in 1927, and the story is told in Nancy Millar’s book Once Upon A Wedding.  

• Clara came to the Brooks area in 1957 to help her sister after the birth of her third child, and she never left. 

• She met Mitsuo Iwaasa, the man she would marry, the day she arrived, but it certainly wasn’t love at first sight! She arrived at her sister’s house to find a group of fellows gathered around the television watching wrestling, one of whom was Mits.  

• The couple married in 1959 and soon threw themselves wholeheartedly into the work of raising four children. 

• Clara has always loved history and research, and she said that her mother was the type to save everything, which further fueled her passion for history. 

• She took a course on genealogies and helped form the Brooks Genealogical Society soon after, something she is still actively part of today.  

• Some friends described her as an “unseen but respected part of the Brooks community.” 

• All around, Clara is a valuable person who adds to the community of Brooks. It is not the land that makes up a community but the people, and Clara is one of those people who does their part to make Brooks a better place. 

Bibliography 

Iwaasa, Clara. “Interview.” Conducted by Kathy Ramer and  Kaetrianne Ramer,   

January 26, 2024.