Steven K Masui

Steven Kazuyuki Masui departed this life peacefully in his sleep on September 19, 2022 at the age of 76 due to complications from an infection suffered in August. Devoted son of Yoshio and Sanayo Masui, dear brother of late Kazue Masui, Marianne Ogawa, Grayce Tokunaga, Yoshiyuki Masui, and Donald Masui, and loving uncle to many nieces and nephews.

Steve was born in Salinas, California in 1946, where his family moved after being sent to an internment center at Poston, Arizona during World War II. Steve said his earlier memories were of his parents, brother Don, and sister Grayce working in a strawberry farm. When his family bought a piece of land in Gilroy to raise walnuts and prunes, Steve went to the Rucker Elementary School before attending Gilroy High School. After high school, Steve enrolled at Gavilan Junior College and San Jose State University before receiving his bachelor's degree at CSU Stanislaus, where he was a photographer for the college yearbook.

After graduating from college in 1969, Steve enlisted in the Army. After being assigned to Fort Carson, Colorado, Steve was then transferred to Vietnam, where he received the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with three Bronze Stars, and the Army Commendation Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster. Unfortunately, during his time in Vietnam Steve was exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange, which has been found to cause major health problems.

After being discharged from the Army, Steve returned to San Jose, where he worked for many years at Thrifty Drug Stores, IBM, Amdahl Corporation, Cisco Systems, and Abbott Laboratories. Steve also took it upon himself to receive a second college degree, this time in Business Administration at San Jose State. During his retirement, Steve enjoyed fishing and many outings for two decades with beloved friends in a local social group called the "Shoreliners". His smiling face and gifts of chocolate treats brightened the group's Saturday morning walks and movie and theater nights. As the "birthday card guy", Steve kept track of everyone’s birthday and selected cards that perfectly matched the personality of the birthday person before secretly collecting signatures from the other Shoreliners.

Friends are invited to attend a memorial service at 12 P.M. on Saturday, October 15th at the Willow Glen Funeral Home, 1039 Lincoln Ave, San Jose, CA 95125. In lieu of gifts, people wishing to make a donation may do so to the Yu Ai Kai Senior Center (https://yuaikai.org/) or the Japanese American Museum of San Jose (https://www.jamsj.org/).