Warning: This is a long post. But if you read through it. It is definitely worth it.

“Vard was really friendly,…not only to the Japanese. When he talked to …farmers, ..he sat and talked for a half-hour or an hour. He really cared about people, ” said Kazuo “Kaz”, a prominent Arroyo Grande farmer.

Vard in the middle with the first Arroyo Grande Japanese-American baseball team that he coached. (Photo courtesy of Lilian Sakarai and the South County Historical Society, Heritage Press, Volume II number 6, August 2007)

Joseph Vard Loomis, better known as “Vard” is one of those people that is hard to forget. He was described as friendly, personable and loyal by those who knew him. However, what he is likely remembered most for, is his love and kindness to the Japanese-American citizens of Arroyo Grande.

According to The Heritage Press, “The most prominent supporters of Japanese Americans…