Yoshikazu was born at home in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture Japan on December 23, 1923. Because his parents were not able to register his birth until a week later, his legal or official birthdate is January 1, 1924, the date his birth was registered.
He was the 6th of 7 children born to Takisaburo and Hatsu Watanabe.
Yoshikazu Watanabe passed away peacefully on March 2, 2021 at the age of 97.
His mother died of heart condition when he was about 3 years old; his father passed away due to coronary issues when Yoshikazu was 7.
Dad enlisted in the Japanese navy during WWII; worked in communications on the aircraft carrier Shokaku. The aircraft carrier was sunk by Allied forces during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Dad miraculously survived the sinking of the ship with no injuries. He also spent time in Manchuria at some point during the war, but rarely spoke of this and details are fuzzy.
In addition to his interest in living in another country, Japan’s slow recovery after WWII convinced Dad his future was elsewhere. He heard pay in the US for a farm worker was a dollar an hour. Similar work in Japan paid one dollar a day. The US beckoned Dad with opportunity and he accepted.
Dad left Japan on Oct 1, 1955 on the ship President Cleveland for the US with a wooden box of his belongs, a suitcase and a few dollars in his pocket, having agreed to a two year contract to work on a farm in central California.
On his arrival in the states, Dad had to wait several hours for his friend’s immigration issue to be resolved. It was nightfall when his friend was released. Dad’s first car ride in America was in a Cadillac, courtesy of his sponsor, Mr. Keisaburo Koda, founder of Koda Farms, where he was contracted to work. Next morning they were busy working in the fields. During his time on the farm, he harvested celery and lettuce and he would talk about eating the lettuce and remembering how sweet the crops were. By the end of the 2 year contract, only Dad and a few others who arrived at the same time were still at the farm – most had skipped out and left before their 2 year contract was completed. After finishing his two year contract, Dad moved to Los Angeles apprenticing for experienced gardeners and eventually becoming a self-employed gardener. During this time, Dad went by the first name Henry, knowing it would be easier for his customers than Yoshikazu. For years we would receive Christmas cards addressed to Henry Watanabe.
To make ends meet and save money, Dad also cleaned bowling alleys at night and would demonstrate good bowling form for the kids whenever Bowling for Dollars was on TV back in the 70’s.
In the meantime in Japan, Dad’s older brother Katsuhiro heard a young lady in Fukushima named Toki Higuchi was immigrating to Brazil to join her mother & siblings. The ship would stop in Los Angeles before continuing on to Brazil. Katsuhiro had also heard this lady was single and might be a good match for his brother. He got word to her that he was seeking someone who might take a package to Dad in Los Angeles and so arranged to meet her and gave her the package. While the ship was en route to Los Angeles, Katsuhiro wrote Dad in Los Angeles telling him that he was sending Toki his way and that she might be a good match for him (and to be on his best behavior).
Rumor has it when they met and shook hands, Dad thought, “she has a strong handshake… she’s probably a hard worker.” Well, he was right about that! There began their long-distance courtship.
Dad wanted to know more about Brazil, so they agreed to keep in touch. They corresponded and Dad visited Mom in Brazil, eventually purchasing 100 acres to start a farm in Brazil. At some point Dad proposed, Toki accepted and they married in Brazil in 1960. Dad continued his gardening business and saved for the eventual move to Brazil. Their first child, Frank, was born in Brazil in 1961. Mom came to Calif for a time where they made plans to settle in Brazil and start a farm. However when their daughter Eleanor was born they changed their plans, deciding to stay in the U.S. (determining that living in the harsh interior of Brazil might be too much for a girl).
Mom stayed home with the kids while learning to decorate cakes in case Dad was injured or unable to work. She became very skilled decorating cakes, entering local competitions. We still have photos of the elaborate icing work she did on numerous cakes.
Their third child David came along while they living in Costa Mesa and before long, they moved to Riverside so Dad could get a new set of customers and grow his gardening practice.
But they wanted to make a better living in order to provide for their 3 children. With help and guidance from Mr. Yasutake who founded T-Y Nursery in Torrance (and is still in operation), he & mom started a wholesale plant nursery on an open plot of 10 acres of hard, dry earth among the orange groves in Moreno Valley (then Sunnymead) in 1969.
Mom stayed at the nursery full time while Dad worked both his gardener job and nursery duties for a time and then dedicated his time at the nursery soon thereafter.
The nursery wasn’t a success right away but eventually with some luck and a lot of hard work (usually 7 days a week), the nursery began to thrive and the entire family worked on the nursery, including for a time, mom’s siblings who also immigrated to California from Brazil. Dad preferred working with and nurturing the plants while mom enjoyed interacting with customers. They eventually built their own house (with 50 foot long pool) in the early 80’s enjoying the fruits of their hard work. Along the way, all 3 kids went off to college and careers outside the nursery business.
After 30 years, they decided it was time to retire and sold the nursery.
After retiring they moved to Glide, Oregon after hearing that other Japanese had moved there after the war.
After determining the cold and snow were a little too much for their like (and finding few, if any, Japanese folks), they came back to California and were looking for a place to buy and call home in the Chico area. While living in Chico, Dad suffered a heart attack, so they headed back to Moreno Valley to live with their daughter. After undergoing successful triple by-pass surgery, they eventually moved to an unincorporated area in the outskirts of Banning. In Banning they had peach, cherry, persimmon and other fruit trees, saw a black bear, raccoon, rattlesnake, other critters and plenty of lizards in the backyard. They experienced occasional wildfires on Banning Bench and once had to evacuate down to the City of Banning. Mom and Dad lived there 16 years enjoying the solitude and quiet. Due to increasing medical needs mom moved in with Eleanor in Moreno Valley.
Since mom was already living in Moreno Valley Dad decided to sell the house in Banning and move to Moreno Valley to be closer to Eleanor and Mom and which made taking him to his doctor appointments in Loma Linda easier. In April 2018, while in the midst of selling the house in Banning & packing things for the move to Moreno Valley, Dad went to urgent care for pain in his right lung. During the examination, something suspicious appeared in a chest x-ray; the biopsy in May found stage 4 lung cancer in Dad’s right lung and sacral area. With the exception of pain felt that April, thankfully Dad experienced no pain due to the cancer despite being asked continually by his kids about any pain, until the last week or so of his life.
Mom passed away peacefully on Jan 18, 2021. Six weeks later Dad succumbed to the cancer and peacefully passed away on March 2, 2021.
Yoshikazu is survived by his children Frank, Eleanor and David, as well as his two grandchildren Andrew and Ariana and daughter-in-law Anabel, Frank’s wife.
Random facts about Dad –
• Dad watched the news more than anything else, mainly the only thing the kids got to watch on TV.
• Often told the kids he thought the New York Yankees had the best uniforms because of the pinstripes.
• Didn’t allow us to watch Happy Days but did for some reason let us watch Sanford and Son
• Was an avid reader
• Would always say he would eat anything put in front of without issue, but would complain, a lot, about food.
• Never went back to Japan to see family although his brother Katsushiro came numerous time and Dad seem to really enjoy the visits, the last being in 2004.
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