Toshihito Kodama

Toshihito Kodama was born March 16, 1925 in Tokyo, Japan, in an area called Kanda. His father, Yoshifumi Kodama, was an attorney in Japan at a time when there were only about 150 lawyers in the entire country. His father went on to become a Ph.D. of Law and Toshihito spoke of his pride in his father's achievements, and his love for him, until the day he died. His mother, Yukie Muramatsu, tragically died of tuberculosis, for which there was no cure in those days, when he was about two years old.

He was called into military service during World War II at the age of eighteen and trained as a torpedo pilot. When America dropped the A-Bomb, it stopped the war and he was saved from certain death. When Americans occupied Japan, he saw an ad in a local newspaper for a "house boy" in Morioka and went to work for the troops.

One of the senior officers at the work camp took $1 from every man in the pay line one day and collected $350 for "Tosh" to go to America because he was a hard worker and had expressed an interest in going to the United States to get a college education. He sailed into San Francisco Bay in 1953 on a steamer, with only "seven dollars and fifty cents" in his pocket, as he was proud to say, and began a journey of hard work and uncanny determination that would culminate in uncommon success.

He supported himself and his family by washing cars, washing dishes at the now defunct Larry Blake's on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley while attending U.C. Berkeley, and then transferred to San Francisco State University and ultimately earned his degree in Accounting in 1958. He also became well known as a "presser" amongst the Japanese-owned dry cleaning businesses in the City. Long after he became a success in business, he continued to press clothes because he loved it so much and was grateful for what his craft had helped him achieve.

Before coming to the U.S., he had also worked as a translator for American troops. This enabled him to land a job at the Department of the Army at the Language Institute in Monterey teaching Japanese to American officers. Through this position, he was awarded a green card by the government. This allowed him to bring his wife, Sawako and young son, Boku, to America. His daughter, Katherine was born thereafter.

Mr. Kodama began a career in the insurance business going door-to-door writing policies for single households. Then, as Japanese corporate business poured in from Japan after the war, he joined John Hancock Life Insurance and worked there for forty-one years servicing all of the business he had developed. He and his wife developed a scholarship fund and gave sixty young Japanese people the opportunity to come to America and study as he had done. He always loved this country and felt extremely grateful for the opportunities it provided to him and his family. He also loved his homeland and visited Japan frequently

Mr. Kodama's father began taking him to many shrines when he was a very young man, to pray and express gratitude for life's many gifts; that tradition was deeply engrained in him throughout his life. Sawako introduced him to the Church of Perfect Liberty. He also belonged to the Nichiren Hokke Buddhist Church of America in Lower Pacific Heights. Perfect Liberty taught him how to live his life meaningfully each day and Nichiren helped him to honor and worship his ancestors. He felt he had the perfect combination for a spiritually fulfilling life by following these two practices. He, and his second wife, Molly, remained very active in both churches right up until his death.

Mr. Kodama died peacefully at home. He is survived by his adoring wife, Molly Gleason-Kodama, whom he married in 2011; his sister in Yokohama, Japan, Yoshiko Hanada, and many Tokyo-area relatives; two children, Katherine Hisako (Mick) and Boku Yoshitada (Donna); five grandchildren, Marcus, Erin (Kyle), Justin (Grace), Toby (Shelly), and "Chippy"; two great grandchildren, Jackson (Justin & Grace, with another one on the way) and Zoe (Erin & Kyle); grand niece Toshimi Murakami (Peter) and great grand niece Kaiya, both of Los Angeles. He was great friends with Katherine's first husband, Dr. Vernon Fong (Wanda), father of Toby and Chippy, He was pre-deceased by his first wife, Sawako, in 2005.