Jack Kazuo Hata

Jack Kazuo Hata was born the only child to Issei Fujio and Kiyo Hata in Tacoma, Washington on May 17, 1921. He attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma until May of 1942, when on his 21st birthday, he had to evacuate and relocate during WWII. After his release from Tule Lake Relocation Center, he was separated from his parents and moved to various locations in the US. While traveling from New York, he stopped in Colorado and happened to see his father walking down the street one day and they were reunited once again. It was there in Denver, Colorado that he met his beautiful wife-to-be, Ikuyo Matsumoto. They married on June 16, 1948.

A few years later, on November 6, 1951, their first daughter, Eileen was born. Deciding to be closer to Ikuyo's family, they all moved to Northridge, California. Here, their second daughter, Joanne, was born on February 24, 1954. After owning a dry cleaning business for a number of years, Jack became a service technician for Panasonic, where he worked until his retirement. Throughout his life, he always had a love for fishing, golfing, photography, his bonsai trees and koi pond, as well as spending hours a day in his workshop. He also enjoyed his years involved with the Lion's Club of Tarzana. Some of his favorite memories were of time spent with family up at Shaver Lake and in Clovis as well as the opportunities he had to travel to Japan and spend time with his relatives there.

He peacefully passed away at his home in Northridge, California on the evening of August 24, 2013 at the age of 92. He is survived by his wife, Ikuyo; his daughters, Eileen and Joanne; four grandchildren: Alyson Morikawa-Defanti, Stacey Coombe, Robbie Coombe, Amanda Coombe, one great-grandchild: Giovanni Defanti; and extended family in Clovis and Japan.

In Loving Memory of Jack Hata