Hello. My name is Sheri, and I am Kunio Ikeda's niece.
Uncle Kunio was born in Gardena, California on July 29, 1927. In 1936, he moved to the Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan with his family where he stayed to attend school, graduating from Kajiki High School. Due to the war, the family was separated and he was unable to rejoin his family until 1951 at the age of 24.
Once reunited with the family, he returned to Salinas and helped run the family business, Ikeda Farms. Many of the longtime employees said Uncle Kunio was like a brother to them. Always kind, joking, and generous.
In addition to farming, Uncle Kunio was an avid fan of sumo. He would spend hours watching sumo, studying his magazines and talking sumo. The best investment he made was subscribing to Japanese TV in order to watch his beloved sumo tournaments.
One of my early memories was after my grandfather passed, was staying with Bachan overnight. Uncle Kunio let me stay up until 9...but, not until he counted out how many hours of sleep I would get...he had to make sure that I would get at least 9 hours of sleep...of course, I didn't tell him that Mom and Dad would make me go to sleep at 8.
A few years ago, my family stayed at his house. Uncle Kunio knew that my oldest son, Jordan, loved noodles, so, he had the water in the kettle nice and hot, in order to have cup-a-noodles on the table waiting for him as soon as he woke up. He must have had the water boiling for over an hour.
I will always remember his sense of humor and his crooked smile. One of his favorite jokes would be, "hey hey, want half of a banana?" He would get a banana and eat the whole banana and give me my half...the peel. Which worked out fine for me, because, I don't like bananas.
One of the most precious memories I will cherish was when my husband and I had an extra airline voucher, so, we took Uncle Kunio to Hawaii to visit his friend. At the age of 71, this was his first trip on an airplane. On the way home we made sure he had a window seat, and I think he looked out the window for the first 30 minutes. "hey hey, there are islands down there" then a few minutes later, "hey hey, there is a lot of water down there", but, the best comment was, "hey the wing looks like it's going to fall off". Okay, it is funnier now then it was then surrounded in a plane full of strangers listening to him.
In recent years, he spent a lot of time with his friend Kazuko. I just want to take a few moments to thank Kazuko for taking care of Uncle Kunio, especially when my mother was sick and after her death. Prior to Kazu, Mom spent a lot of time taking Uncle Kunio to his doctor's appointments, grocery shopping or running his errands. Kazu took a lot of that stress away from her. During this past year, she helped ensure that he ate, took his medications and basically took care of him. Kazu, thank you for your kindness, love and patience. Especially patience, we know how the Ikeda men can be. We are honored to have you sitting with us during this time.
Another person I would like to thank is Tony. Tony, you have been so good to Uncle Kunio. We were at the house one day before Uncle Kunio went to the hospital and you were so kind to him. I remember how patient you were helping him with his insulin shots. You took good care of him...thank you.
Uncle Kunio was blessed to have so many friends. He always would comment that he didn't have kids of his own...but, he not only had 8 nieces and nephews, 9 grand-nieces and grand-nephews...but also hundreds of loving friends. I am sure he would want me to thank you for your love and friendship...thank you.
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