George Kodama

My Dad was born George Kodama on February 5, 1928 at the Monterey Hospital (now the Pacheco Club on Abrego and Webster Street) in Monterey, California to his Father, Setsuji Kodama, and Mother, Fujiko Nagatani Kodama. He was the fifth of seven children. He along with his older sister Grace, younger brother Harold and younger sister Margaret were the only children to survive beyond childhood and adolescence.

As a young boy, his somewhat mischievous and stubborn personality resulted in him being chased around and out of their home with a broom by his older sister Grace who was often responsible for looking after him and his younger brother while their parents worked at the family-owned dry-cleaning business.

During World War II, he was interned in Jerome, Arkansas and then Crystal City, Texas with his parents, sisters Grace and Margaret, and brother Harold. After World War II, my Dad and his family returned to Monterey. He attended Monterey High School as a Senior, played football, and graduated in 1946.

After graduation he moved to Los Angeles to learn about the dry-cleaning business at a trade school. He shared an 8’x10’ room for $7.00/week, with a friend from Monterey who was attending auto mechanics school. Their room was in a small three-story boarding house with one bathtub and four washrooms that was home to eighteen additional residents, many who had also been interned in Crystal City. While attending trade school he found time to go to the Hollywood Palladium and other clubs in Los Angeles to hear the big bands. He also played basketball in a Japanese American Men’s Basketball league where he met my Mom, Fujiko (Fudge) Hamasaki who was playing in the Women’s league.

They married in 1950, returned to my Dad’s hometown of Monterey and moved into the Kodama Family home. My Dad was stationed at the Monterey Presidio for his two years of service during the Korean War and shortly after began his full-time working career managing the Kodama family dry cleaning business with his Mother. It was around this time that my Dad’s father passed away. My Dad felt a strong responsibility to his mother and siblings to take on the leadership role for the Family. He was generous and usually the first to reach to pay the check for a meal out with the Family as well as with friends, a trait that lasted his entire life.

My Dad was very active in the Japanese American community. He held positions at the local Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) from Director to President and was Director of the 25 Chapter Northern California/Western Nevada JACL. He was also a Director of the Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple throughout the 1950’s.

My Dad later became involved in local community service as a member of the Monterey Architectural Review Committee, later a Planning Commissioner for the City of Monterey, and, during the 1980’s a Director with the Monterey Chamber of Commerce. During the same period, he was also a Founder, Director and Vice Chairman for Monterey County Bank as well as a member of an advisory board for the predecessor to Union Bank.

While managing the family business, my Dad and Mom saved money to purchase a home. With their savings along with a loan from the VA and with the help from both my Dad’s and Mom’s parents, they purchased a home site and built, landscaped, and furnished their Monterey dream home in 1960. I was born shortly after in 1962.

Throughout the 1960’s my Dad continued to manage the family dry cleaning business with his younger brother Harold and Mother until she passed away in 1974. They sold the family dry cleaning business in 1986 which relieved my Dad from the responsibility of the 6 day work week he had known for over 30 years and allowed my Dad and Mom to travel throughout North American and then Europe with occasional trips to visit relatives in Japan.

During the 1990’s and 2000’s my Dad continued to enjoy playing his favorite pastime of golf which he had taken up as a young man and driving a courtesy car for the professional golfers at the AT&T tournament in Pebble Beach each February for eight consecutive years. It was during this time that he became a Director for an American subsidiary of a Japanese company that made interiors for Mazda’s Automotive Division which led to trips to Michigan and manufacturing locations in Tennessee.

He was a member of the Monterey Sports Center from its inception and his punctuality for being the first person at the front door when it opened every weekday morning earned him the nick name “Door Man.” At the Sports Center he was also part of a group that walked the Big Sur Marathon from start to finish twice.

As my Dad got older, his trips to the Sports Center became more social than for exercise and he gave up playing golf but continued to watch it on TV. His sister Grace passed away in 2014. My Mom and his brother Harold passed away in 2017.

My Dad had a stubborn streak that stayed with him throughout his life. His Mother had explained “George is used to getting his way” to my Mom when my parents were newlyweds and it was definitely evident in his later years when he made it a challenge for everyone trying to assist him. He was very fortunate to have a dedicated group of close friends and companion care providers that could help him to the end of his life.

My Dad passed away peacefully on August 16, 2020 at the age of 92.

Kurt