One source says that Rhonda Leiko Nakata passed away on February 8, 1976, and was buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California. Alternatively, old Oberlin alumni directories indicate that Rhonda Lynn Nakata of San Francisco passed away on February 2, 1985.
Steven Slosberg '69 wrote a remembrance in 1984, which implies that the 1976 date is correct.
Michael Phipps (1969)
I've been a little puzzled about where to put things since I'm brand new to this. I put this on the 2019 reunion site initially and now I'm copying it over here. I thought Ed (sometimes Edd with the d's drawn out) was wonderful and amazing and sweet too but I don't have anything truly specific to say about him. If you had any ODA experience look at my profile on the 2019 site for a story. I might copy that over on this site.
I think possibly Rhonda is in the documentary film Gimme Shelter from 1970. It's a horrible, awful thing to watch so don't do that. But just about an hour in a beautiful Asian American woman appears from side view saying "He needs a doctor, they won't play until he gets a doctor." Then she kind of goes into bliss mode. She falls back smiling and plays a lilt on her flute or recorder. She disappears but the music keeps playing for a bit.
She shows concern, wants action, has her blissful moment and plays beautiful music. If it wasn't Rhonda it might as well have been. So like her. You can see it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax_q6vp5FqU&t=3641s
I hope she got the hell out of there. I suspect she did since you don't see her after that.
I'm sure many of you remember the photo in the Hi-O-HI of the woman walking naked through the aisle of the library stacks. Nobody looks up from their studies. Rhonda is seen from the back walking very leisurely, some might say provocatively. Does anybody know who took that photo?