Nov. 22, 1921 - Jan. 11, 2015
Carmel
On Sunday, January 11, 2015 Dr. Takashi Hattori passed away peacefully at home. He was 93. A longtime resident of Monterey, he was known as "Tak", a kind, warm, and generous man who touched so many lives over his 93 years. His greatest gift was his selfless devotion to this community, and for his warm smile and can-do attitude no matter what. He leaves behind a legacy of trust, friendship and love.
Tak was born November 22, 1921 in Stockton, California, the last of six children and the fourth to be born a Nisei, or second-generation Japanese American. His family returned to the Monterey Peninsula the next year where they started an abalone fishing business. He attended Bay View Elementary School and graduated from Monterey High School in 1939, then attended Hartnell College in Salinas for two years.
Then, on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and his life was to change forever. Initially required to sign up for active duty, he served with the California National Guard until February 19, 1942 when Executive Order 9066 was issued and over 100,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated to internment camps in various locations. He and his family were sent to Rohwer, Arkansas, where they remained until 1945.
After leaving the camp, he initially found employment as a lab assistant at the Lankenau Hospital Cancer Research Center in Philadelphia, then left to pursue pre-med studies at the Univ. of Wisconsin at Madison; but in February of 1947 during his freshman year, nearly starving, he decided to volunteer for the medical corps. A broken knee made him 4-F, and he was sent to Berlin to work with the 10th General Medical Dispensary where he again worked as a lab technician, eventually being promoted to Staff Sargent in charge of Bacteriology and Serology. By 1949, his tour was up. And with 3 months of accrued leave, a snazzy Leica camera and 3 lenses which he won for $50 in a lottery, and his prized Leica microscope (that cost him 6 cartons of cigarettes, which he had saved since he did not smoke!), he set out to see Europe, traveling to Switzerland, France and Italy. On his last day in Rome (and his last lira), wondering how he would get back to Germany, he ran into a bunch of fliers who offered to take him back. He said one of his fondest memories was of that flight and the spectacular views of the Swiss Alps at sunset it offered. That was not the only time he ran into some dumb luck.
In the summer of 1950, after finishing his pre-med studies and waiting to see if he would be accepted to the Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia, he discovered he could be paid $50 to drive a new car from Madison to its new owner in San Francisco. As luck would have it, the car he got to drive was a brand new Fleetwood Cadillac (and thus his love affair with fine automoblies began). He stopped in Monterey on the way, and five days after returning from San Francisco the Korean War started and he was required to report for active duty at Fort Ord, CA. He was then sent to the Walter Reed Army Research Medical Center in Washington, D.C. A week later he received his acceptance letter from Temple University Medical School. He took the letter to the Adjutant General who told him, "too bad." But, as luck would have it (again), one of his old Berlin buddies was now working for the Pentagon, and got strings pulled that allowed him to return to inactive duty and attend medical school.
Soon after starting at med school, he met Mary Lou Myers, a nursing student at Temple University, on a blind date. Although she was initially reluctant to date a Japanese American, he soon won her over and on April 15, 1954 they were married, despite protestations from her Pennsylvania Dutch family. He soon won them over, though, too. Steve, their first child, was born in 1955; that summer Tak graduated from medical school.
In 1957 he came to Monterey to do his internship in family practice at Natividad Hospital in Salinas, where he had many horror stories, including one 8-hour shift in during which he said he saw 50 ER patients, delivered three babies and performed one appendectomy by himself. The next year he returned to Walter Reed to do his residency in Radiology. Karen was born there in 1958, followed by Michael in 1959. That year, he was stationed in at the Neubrucke Station Hospital in Germany to do his 3-year payback time. The rest of the family followed several months later.
In 1964, he and the family returned to the US, eventually returning to Monterey to live. At this point he also left the Army and joined the Naval Reserves where he did voluntary work reading x-rays, doing physicals, and training residents at Oak Knoll Hospital.
He initially found a job as a radiologist at the then Monterey Hospital (now the Hartnell Medical Center), where their fourth child, Andy, was born in 1965. In 1967 he left to join Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, where he remained until his retirement in 1993, serving his last years as Chief of Radiology. He was the epitome of the "good doctor" and his warm and generous manner earned him many, many friends there.
His real passion, though, and the true testament to his selfless nature, began in 1967, spurred by his brother Roy's interest in SCUBA diving and history with hardhat abalone diving, and the new hyperbaric chamber that the Pacific Grove Fire Department had bought recently. In short order, he became the "go-to" dive physician for most of California, earning the him the nickname of "Dive Doc," and over the years becoming a world-renowned hyperbaric expert. He was responsible for obtaining and bringing online the large multiplace hyperbaric chamber that is still in use today. Until then all cases of the bends and air embolism were treated in the tiny, cramped, phonebooth-sized chamber with a tiny 4" window, often taking 12 hours or more; his favorite place was straddled over the chamber so he could see in the window - the staff threatened to buy him a saddle! He served as the Medical Director for 44 years, on call 24/7 on a purely voluntary basis; over this time he treated more than 375 patients successfully, saving many, many lives.
For this incredible devotion and service he received many awards and recognitions, including a Naval Reserve Commander Letter of Commendation for Exceptional Dedication and Service, a US Coast Guard Public Service Commendation, the Undersea Medical Society Award for Selfless Service, and in 1995, the Merrill P. Spencer Life Achievement Award, Pacific Chapter of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. In 2011, he retired from the Hyberbaric Chamber and for his 44 years of service he received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for Outstanding and Invaluable Service to the Community, presented by Sam Farr; he also received a Mayoral Proclamation for Dedicated Service to the Community.
He also received many other service awards, including the Outstanding Community Service Award, Monterey JACL, the 1975 Outstanding Public Service Award, Monterey Planning Commission, and a 25-yr Award of Distinctive Recognition from the Monterey Kiwanis Club. In 1993 he was named Monterey County Physician of the Year.
He also served as President of the Monterey JACL, member of the Monterey Planning Commission from 1970-1974, Board of Directors for the Asilomar Conference Center from 1970-1980, and President of the Monterey Academy of Medicine.
He is survived by his four children, Steve, Karen, Michael, and Andy, all of whom live nearby, and his four grandchildren, Arielle, Mallory, Damen and Taylor.
A memorial service and reception will be held at 2pm Saturday, January 24 at the Monterey Buddhist Temple, 1155 Noche Buena St, Seaside.
Please send any donations to the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation, 99 Pacific St., Building 455E, Monterey, CA 93940 and note "for Pacific Grove hyperbaric chamber."
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18