Patricia Tsubokawa Reeves
by Ruthe Ashley

On June 18, 1951, Downey, California, experienced the Yonsei (4th generation) birth of Patty Tsubokawa, the oldest of three other siblings to follow. The family lived in Norwalk and Patty and her little sisters were the only Asians at their school of over 2,000 students. In the 1960's, being the only Asian students didn't seem to be important since Patty was the All American girl. In high school, she was a song leader, student body vice president, homecoming princess, Jr. Miss Norwalk, and had the privilege of being the student speaker at high school graduation. Patty graduated 5th in her class at Norwalk High School in 1969 with a full state scholarship to Whittier College.

Instead of starting Whittier College that fall, Patty's life took a detour. She married her high school sweetheart, Keith Reeves, on August 30, 1969. Keith and Patty met when she was in 8th grade. He was one of the "surfer-types' who drove a Nomad. They had been dating for two years and Patty's Japanese parents were against any serious commitment between them. Patty, in her own independent way, found a way to marry Keith and leave home. Patty and Keith became parents of Christy, born on Christmas Day 1969. Patty and Keith will celebrate their 32nd wedding anniversary this year.

When Christy was 19 months old, she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Patty was 5 months pregnant with daughter Stephanie. One of the turning points in Patty's life was when she decided against an abortion despite the distinct possibility of potential birth defects. This was an excruciating time for this young family. Following surgery and radiation therapy, Christy was very sick. All the family could do was to wait and see....

The most important role for Patty at this time was to be a mom. They didn't know if Christy would live until she was five, so Patty wanted to spend as much time as possible with her. Happily, Christy thrived and in 1976 Patty volunteered at the elementary school the girls attended. She quickly became coordinator of volunteers and was offered a paying job with one condition. She had to go to college to keep her job. That was the start of her higher education experience. Patty attended Fullerton JC for four years then transferred to UC Riverside where she majored in Law & Society. She excelled in her classes and loved school, but was always home when the kids were home. She worked part-time and attended school and still managed to be involved in Girl Scouts, sports, and music lessons with the girls.

Patty's special skill through high school and college was public speaking. She was on the debate team and her senior honors project was on Lizzy Borden. In high school she competed in various speech contests and did very well. At one competition, her father found her and insisted she leave the speech contest and compete in the Miss Jr. Norwalk beauty contest. She fought going, but papa insisted, she went, won, and was upset because her father forced her into a beauty contest. She wanted to finish the speech competition. She realized then where her heart was.

In her senior year at UC Riverside, Patty and several friends decided to apply to law school to see if they could get in. She thought it would be a shot in the dark to be accepted. She applied to three law schools -- UCLA, Hastings and UC Davis. She was accepted at UC Davis and Hastings and rejected at UCLA. Hubby Keith encouraged her to go to law school by saying "If you don't do this, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." With the family's blessing, Patty moved to Davis and started law school in the fall of 1983. The girls moved up two months later and started school in Davis. Keith moved up as soon as he could get a lateral transfer.

Her first job out of law school was with Judge Luis Villareal in Solano County. Although she applied at many places, the judge was the only one to offer her a job. For the first time, Patty experienced racial discrimination in applying for jobs. One interviewer asked how long she had spoken English since she spoke it so well. Thinking there were no long term jobs for her in the legal profession, she returned as a teaching assistant at UC Davis and started work on a PhD. She loved teaching, but her students kept asking, "You're a lawyer, what are you doing here?"

In 1988, she applied for the second time at Weintraub, Genshlea, & Sproul and was hired as an associate. Her first assignment was writing a Motion for Summary Judgment which was successful. In May, 1993, she left WGS to start her own practice. She didn't miss one day of work in the transition. In 1997, Patty and Ruthe Ashley started playing golf together. They met through the Asian Bar and decided the only way to learn golf was with a partner. They were both awful and humiliated themselves every time they ventured on a golf course. A few months into this relationship, they started talking about a law partnership. They thought if they could get along on a golf course, they certainly could do it in a law partnership.

Reeves & Ashley, LLP moved into their office on September 1, 1998. Patty and Ruthe wanted to create a different kind of law practice. They both had similar life experiences, similar goals and values. Reeves & Ashley has become a place where groups can meet and individuals can go for support. Patty is a trial attorney extraordinaire. She is a devoted wife and mother, a community activist, a volunteer in numerous organizations including ABAS, regional governor of NAPABA, bar council of SCBA, Alexis de Toqueville committee of the United Way. I could go on and on, but I would need to write a book. But to me, she is my partner, dear friend, golf buddy, and inspiration.