LOS ANGELES — Little Tokyo Service Center’s Executive Director Dean Matsubayashi passed away the evening of Sept. 4, a letter written by Dick Kaku, the organization’s board president, said.
Matsubayashi had battled a brain tumor for almost a year. He passed away “peacefully with his family by his side,” Kaku wrote.

Matsubayashi served as executive director for seven years, and before that, worked in and led the organization’s Community Economic Development work for 14 years. Matsubayashi is credited with “helping guide the organization to a position of strength and stability after the worst economic crisis the country has faced since the Great Depression, building coalitions and partnerships across ethnic and geographic boundaries, achieving national recognition as a leader in the community development field, and advancing the dream of the Terasaki Budokan project to fruition.”

According to his LTSC biography, Matsubayashi received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Irvine with a double major in political science and sociology and graduated magna cum laude. He received his master’s in public policy with a concentration in urban planning and community development from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.