Hideo Chino

Hideo Chino, Juvenile Court Commissioner and Member of the World Renowned Chino Farm Family Dies at 65

Hideo Chino, a San Diego County Superior Court Commissioner and second-generation member of the renowned Chino Farm family, died Saturday April 12, 2008 at his home in San Diego. Seven months following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, he died surrounded by family members and close friends. He was 65.

The seventh of nine children born to Japanese immigrant parents, Mr. Chino was born on March 28, 1943 in the wartime relocation camp in Poston, Arizona. He attended elementary, junior and senior high schools in North County San Diego, and graduated from San Diego State University in 1966 with a degree in microbiology. He attended law school at the University of San Diego and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 1970.

Mr Chino’s legal expertise was in juvenile law, where his compassion, legal acumen and dedication to the welfare of children were evident in his service as a Superior Court Commissioner assigned to juvenile court where he served from 1986 until his recent retirement in 2008. Prior to his service on the juvenile court, Mr. Chino engaged in the private practice of law for a number of years with offices in north county San Diego, specializing in juvenile and criminal law with some civil practice. During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s he served as the assistant city attorney for the City of Del Mar while affiliated with the firm of Worden and Williams in Solana Beach.

During his tenure first as a referee and then as a commissioner on the juvenile court, Mr. Chino handled criminal cases involving children charged with petty and serious crimes as well as dependency cases where he was often called upon to determine the best interests of children under circumstances of abuse, neglect or addiction. Everyone with whom he worked at the court enjoyed being in his courtroom. His long-serving staff and the attorneys who appeared before him especially appreciated his dry wit and sense of humor, his courtesy to and fondness for those with whom he worked, his level-headed good judgment, and the compassion and concern he showed for the juveniles appearing before him. Mr. Chino was widely recognized as an outstanding jurist.

Mr. Chino was also a part of the well known Chino family, along with his sister Kay (Kazumi) and brothers Frank (Koo), Fred (Fumio), and Tom (Haruya) Chino of the world-renowned Chino Farm (”Chino Nojo”) in Rancho Santa Fe, familiarly known as “Chinos” or “The Vegetable Shop”. Founded by Mr. Chino’s parents Junzo and Hatsuyo Chino in the late 1940’s, the farm attained wide acclaim for its top quality specialty vegetables, serving as a source of inspiration to chefs such as Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and Wolfgang Puck. The 60-acre Chino Farm has been profiled in the New Yorker, The New York Times, Vogue, Saveur, and other publications, as well as on local and national television, including the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.

Mr. Chino was an accomplished cook with an extensive collection of cookbooks and kitchen equipment and a deep knowledge of food. He was friends with many of America’s great chefs and food authorities, including Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, Bertrand Hug and Martin Woesle of Mille Fleur in Rancho Santa Fe, Trey Foshee of George’s at the Cove in La Jolla, Paul Bertolli of Oliveto and Fra’Mani, and Carl Schroeder of the Market Café in Rancho Santa Fe.

Mr. Chino spent time cooking at the famed Chez Panisse in Berkeley and studied bread baking at Acme Bakery in Berkeley, among other cooking adventures. Alice Waters of Chez Panisse stated:

Between his family’s farm and my restaurant, Hideo was the indispensable intermediary. He was the quiet gastronome whose perfectionism and curiosity never failed him. He worked in our kitchens and baked bread at Acme Bread, making friends with everybody. He would always sit down at the kitchen table and eat with us, bringing us menu ideas back from his latest European gastronomic adventure. His knowledge, his enthusiasm, and his uncompromising discernment enriched our lives.

Aside from his life time interest in food, Mr Chino was an avid bluegrass musician. He played both flatpick guitar and mandolin with great skill, having won the championship in the Julian Banjo And Fiddle Contest in the flat pick guitar category. He was a regular bluegrass performer with the locally acclaimed 7th Day Buskers performing with the band on many Sundays at the Hillcrest Farmer’s market. He also appears as a guest guitarist on the 7th Day Busker’s first CD release, Long Live the Caboose. Mr Chino was also a member of the bluegrass band Tonewoods in which he sang and performed, including performances for the San Diego Bluegrass Society and at the Lyceum Theater at Horton Plaza.

Mr. Chino traveled extensively over the years. This included trips to Sri Lanka as part of a juvenile law delegation and to France and Europe on several occasions. One particularly memorable trip was a motorcycle tour of Europe in 1989 with friend Dwight Worden. He also visited Japan on many occasions with his family, including visits to the Chino family property in Wakayama, Japan. Always ready to partake in a variety of food experiences, while in Europe and other foreign areas he found time to visit the very best restaurants. In pursuing his keen interest in the culinary arts, he loved to travel to learn about food, especially with regard to his passion for bread-making which lead him on trips to study at Acme Bakery and at the National Baker’s Guild in Minneapolis.

Mr. Chino achieved uncommonly high levels of skill and received significant accolades for excellence in the three professional areas he cared passionately about: juvenile law, food, and bluegrass music, an unusual accomplishment in that there was little overlap. Notwithstanding his excellence in these activities, his primary commitment, and his main joy in life, were his wife and children and his family at the Chino Farm where he and his immediate family could be found every Saturday and Sunday and on Tuesday evenings.

Mr. Chino is survived by his wife of 16 years, Sheridan “Sherry” Reed, a recently retired San Diego superior court judge. He is also survived by his two children, son Matsuo 12 and daughter Mayumi 8. In addition to his wife and children and his farming family members he is survived by his brothers Jun Chino, Shigeru Chino, Junji “Jack” Chino and a sister Hazuki “Helen” Chino.

Mr. Chino will long be remembered for his talents as a court commissioner, as a recognized expert on food and as a champion guitar player, as well as for his sense of humor, his good judgement and even temper, and for his commitment to his family and friends.

Private services will be held by the family.

—Submitted by Sheridan Reed.

Elmore Corivin Maine died of an apparent heart attack Friday morning while working on his cabin in La Grande.

He was born to Georgianne Ellaschuk and Harry Maine (Kostenuk) on Aug. 27, 1943, in Santa Rosa, Calif. He spent his early years in Sonoma, Calif., moving to Southern California in 1956. He graduated from San Dieguito High School in Encinitas, Calif., in 1961 and pursued a career in the building trades.

He married Jackie Anderson in 1964 and they moved to Corvallis in 1970.

Elmore started Maine’s Custom Construction, now Pace Heating and Air, in 1973. He built many homes in Benton County. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather. He was a member of Grace Bible Fellowship and loved the Lord.

He is survived by his wife, Jackie; son John Maine and his wife, Nancy; daughter Susan Blair and her husband, Jordan; grandchildren Lydia, Ellie and Race Maine and Sophia and Alexandra Blair; and sister Darlene Bandy of Albuquerque, N.M. He was preceded in death by grandson John Maine Jr., sister Rosene Maine and brother Morian Maine.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, May 19, at McHenry Funeral Home in Corvallis. Pastor Don Bayne will officiate. Burial will follow at the Locke Cemetery. Viewing will take place one hour prior to the service.

Memorial contributions can be made to either the S.I.D.S. Foundation or the Grace Bible Fellowship in care of McHenry Funeral Home, 206 N.W. Fifth St., Corvallis, OR 97330.

Submitted by Mrs. Jackie Maine