By HDN Staff
TOM MATSUOKA
VANCOUVER, Wash. Tom Matsuoka, 98, died Friday, March 9, 2001 in Vancouver, Wash. following a short illness.
Cremation has taken place and a private burial service was scheduled for a later date.
Matsuoka was born Aug. 1, 1903 in Hawaii. He moved to Washington state in 1919. He met Kazue Hirotaka and they were married on Nov. 13, 1926 in Seattle.
They moved their family in 1942 from the Tule Lake Relocation Center in Washington to the Gottlieb Blatter farm east of Chinook. They moved to the Gus Lundeen farm west of town a short time later and subsequently purchased the farm and raised their family there. All five of their children were education in Chinook and graduated from Chinook High School.
In 1968, the Matsuokas retired and moved into Chinook. They built a greenhouse and started a plant business. She died in 1986. He remained in Chinook until October 1990, when he moved to Ridgefield, Wash. to be closer to some of his children.
Survivors include his sons, Tats Matsuoka of Greenfield, Ind., Ty Matsuoka of Bellevue, Wash. and Ted Matsuoka of Moscow, Idaho; daughters, Rae Takekawa of Vancouver, Wash. and Rulee Stallmann of Rockford, Ill.; 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to a donor's choice.
