Mariko Wada Westbrook
The words Mariko Wada Westbrook often told her two children were “don’t cry, don’t ever cry.” There were many reasons they might cry — facing bullies, growing up in a housing project in Newark, New Jersey with a Japanese mother who had kicked out her abusive husband. She was tough, and she taught Peter and Vivian to be tough. But she had a deeply compassionate side, helping the homeless and always keeping an eye out for someone in need of something. When she was killed — an early, tragic death — her children put her death certificate occupation as “missionary worker.” Her legacy lives in the lessons she taught the two of them, the six-time Olympic fencer Peter Westbrook and his sister Vivian.