Susumu Suemoto

Susumu "Sus" Suemoto was born on August 9, 1938, in California to parents Seizo Suemoto and Yoshino (Okado) Suemoto. He passed away peacefully in Columbus, Ohio on March 8, 2026. His father immigrated from Japan, but his mother (also of Japanese ancestry) was born in the United States.

In 1942, Sus, still a toddler, along with his parents and siblings (Kiyomi and Takeo/Kenny), were forcibly interned in the Gila River Concentration Camp. Sus would complete the first grade inside the camp before the family’s release in 1945.

Sometime in Sus’ adolescence, following the release from Gila River, he began to pursue photography as a hobby in the family’s new hometown of Reedley, CA. Although not a notable hobby in 2026, in the mid-1900s Japanese American community, he would have been somewhat of a trailblazer.

Sus was accepted into the engineering program at the University of California, Berkeley, and began his studies there. He would go on to be dismissed from UC Berkeley, something he spoke about often.

In 1962, Sus joined the Navy and served in Vietnam for two years before being honorably discharged at the end of his contract. Sus then returned to school at Fresno State, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

In 1966, he began his career at the US Bureau of Reclamation where he would remain until his retirement in 1994. During his long career, he was most proud of the work he did on Hoover Dam and at the Yuma (Arizona) Desalination Plant.

The proudest moment of his career came in August 1979 when he was awarded a Professional Engineering License by the State of Nevada. He would spend most of the rest of his life bragging that he passed the professional engineering license exam on the first try while most engineers require two attempts (his words).

Sus married the girl next door (literally) in the late 1960s and had three daughters: Stacie, Lisa, and Monica. Sus was not quiet about his desire for a son or grandson, but as fate would have it, his daughters would have exactly one daughter each (Mia, Hunter, and Sydney). During his first marriage, Sus was baptized as a Jehovah's Witness. In 1985, Sus and his first wife would divorce.

Following his retirement, he met and married Linda (Harris) Suemoto whom he met through his religion. Sus and Linda were married in March 1999 and lived in Yuma, Arizona until her passing in December 2015.

His marriage to Linda brought with her three more daughters from her prior marriage to Kenny: Tina, Kala, and Sara, as well as additional grandchildren—Brianna, Bailee, Jacob, and Blake. He would often say, very proudly, "That’s a lot of women," clearly knowing the universe’s joke was on him.

Sus’ retirement years were filled with travel, family, church, trips to the Reverse Osmosis water station, solitaire, and bird watching (including protecting the birds from the neighbor's cats using a variety of creative but non-harmful methods over the years). He was not typically one for chatting unless the topic was engineering related. His respect and admiration for the field of engineering were obvious to everyone he met. He was so proud to have a daughter and a granddaughter who are both professional engineers.

In 2020, Sus moved from Yuma, Arizona to Alexandria, Ohio after being diagnosed with dementia. He would eventually move into a nearby memory care facility when that level of care was deemed necessary. The short biography on his door at the facility reminds everyone that he was a father, grandfather, veteran, and professional engineer.

Those few words on his door only begin to describe a long and complicated life well lived. To his family he was simply Sus, and he will be deeply missed.

Sus is survived by his sister Naomi (Nori) Hashimoto, his children and grandchildren, and many extended family members and friends.