Richard Shoichi Sakurai

Dick Sakurai was born in Portland, Oregon to Chiyoko (Takeuchi) and Masaru Sakurai on December 26, 1926. Shortly thereafter, the family acquired some farm acreage in Troutdale, Oregon with a beautiful view of Mt. Hood. Dick spent the first 15 years of his life on the farm and attended public school in Corbett, Oregon. When the U.S. entered World War II, all persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast were interned in U.S. Internment camps scattered throughout the West. Dick and his family were interned in the camp at Minidoka, Idaho, where they spent the next three and a half years. Dick graduated from high school while in Minidoka, early in 1945. When the war ended in mid-1945, the family returned to the Vanport area of Portland.

For the next 5 years, Dick spent time in and out of a TB sanitarium, starting and dropping out of college. Finally, in 1950, Dick was able to restart college, and graduated from Reed College in 1953. In 1954, he started his professional career in Pennsylvania at a Research and Development Laboratory, where he enjoyed some success, including some time at the Burroughs Corporation where he worked on the early development of the original dot matrix printer. In 1960 he returned to Graduate School at Bryn Mawr college, after which he started his career working and teaching at small, unorthodox, liberal arts Colleges in the mid-West and East Coast. He taught the sciences and mathematics for 30-plus years. At the first college he worked at, Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, he met and married Sandra Still, the Assistant Dean of Students at the time. They spent many good years working in education together before her death in 2016.

Dick and Sandy had two sons, Saren Sakurai and Korien Sakurai, both now living in California. After both Sandy and Dick retired, they decided to move back to Oregon, Dick’s home state. Here, Sandy began her next career, becoming a successful poet. Dick’s last career was to return to becoming a strong advocate for the advancement of Progressive causes, including a long run as a docent at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the following organizations would be

appreciated:

Ikoi no kai

Re: “Bento Project”

1333 SE 28th Avenue

Portland, OR 97214

Or

Japanese American Museum of Oregon

411 NW Flanders Street

Portland, Oregon 97209

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.batemancarrollfunerals.com for the Sakurai family.