Irving Masaru Mitsunaga M.D.

Irving Masaru Mitsunaga, M.D., resident of Los Gatos, passed away in January, 2023, after suffering a sudden brain hemorrhage. Irving was born in San Jose May 23, 1940 to Takashi (Rudy) and Masaye (nee Takaki) Mitsunaga and lived with his family at Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming from the age of two to five when the family moved back to the Cupertino/Sunnyvale area. He attended Cupertino Union grade school, graduated from Fremont High School in 1958, attended UC Berkeley, and graduated from San Jose State University. In 1967, he earned his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati Medical School, where he met his wife Evelyn (nee Rettig) when both were working at Cincinnati General Hospital.

After an internship at LA County General Hospital, he completed his two-year military commitment with the US Army (1968-70), serving one year in Vietnam as a general medical officer followed by a year at Ft. Lewis, Washington. Irving completed a residency in psychiatry at the Veterans Hospital in San Fernando Valley before moving with his family to Los Gatos. He split his time between a private psychiatric practice in San Jose and working for Santa Clara County Central Mental Health. After retiring from the County, Dr. Mitsunaga was a consulting psychiatrist at long-term care facilities in San Jose and Santa Cruz, not fully retiring until 81 years of age.

Irving loved sports and followed the San Francisco Giants, the Forty-Niners, and especially the Golden State Warriors. Basketball was his sport of choice and he played in a recreational “over-35” league and in Saturday morning pick-up games behind Los Gatos high school even into his 60s. He loved his family, participating in Scout activities and coaching his sons’ softball, soccer, and basketball teams. Irv and his family preferred active vacations; skiing and camping were common get-aways when the boys were growing up. Recent family travels included a trip to Japan in 2016 to see a maternal aunt and cousins that he’d never met, and just a few months ago in September 2022, a visit to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center.

Irv and his wife Evelyn danced at Camden Center and with Debonair Dancers and biked regularly, often combining bike trips with sight-seeing, riding 24 to 42 miles per day from Berlin to Prague on a Road Scholar trip in 2019. When he turned 80, he switched from biking to hiking and this summer at the age of 82 had completed hiking trips in the Tetons and Yellowstone, followed by a Nordic Walking trip in Germany in October. Irving and his wife loved traveling and over the past fifteen years had visited all seven continents.

Irving loved to shop and was responsible for the bulk of family shopping; he collected toy cars, mostly Porsches, and was an avid reader of the local newspapers. Quiet, never saying much, he was a non-judgmental, live-and-let-live person who never had an enemy. His quiet strength will be missed by family and friends.

Irving was pre-deceased by his parents Takashi and Masaye Mitsunaga, and a brother Ernest. He is survived by his wife of 56 years Evelyn Rettig Mitsunaga and sons Jeffrey Mitsunaga and Jonathan Mitsunaga, by siblings Mae Mitsunaga, Edith Oda, and Kenneth Mitsunaga, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. In lieu of flowers or other offerings, the family would appreciate donations made in Irv's memory: please consider the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, the Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj), or the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in Park County WY, or a charity of your choice of course.