Frank Akira Tsuboi

Frank Akira Tsuboi, 97, passed away peacefully due to natural causes on December 8, 2020, with family at his side. He was born in Seattle, WA, to Frank Kakichi Tsuboi and Tamiye Yokoyama. He was the oldest son and last surviving of six children.

Frank attended Cascade Elementary and graduated from Broadway High School in 1941. In July 1941, he enrolled at the Curtis Wright Technical Institute of Aeronautics in Glendale, CA. His schooling was interrupted by WWII and he returned to Seattle in February 1942. He was 18½ years old when his family was sent to the Puyallup Assembly Center ("Camp Harmony") and then unjustifiably incarcerated at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Hunt, Idaho. He was released from Minidoka in 1944 to attend a school for auto mechanics in Minnesota. While there, he was drafted into the US Army in April 1946 @ Fort Snelling, MN and was honorably discharged as a Technician Grade 5 in November 1947 from Fort Lawton, WA. Frank met his loving wife, Dorothy Honda in Minneapolis, MN. They were married on June 24, 1950 and celebrated almost 60 years together before her passing on February 8, 2010.

Frank continued his education to receive his Flight Engineer’s license in 1957. He retired in 1989, at age 66, after 32 years as a Flight Engineer. He worked for Northwest Airlines and several charter cargo airlines (i.e. Zantop Air Transport, Universal Airlines, Airclub International, Aeroamerica Airlines, Trans International Airlines, Transamerica Airlines, and Interstate Airlines aka Air Transport International). He was a member of the Air Line Pilots Association, International. He traveled throughout the US and the world (i.e. Germany, Japan, Viet Nam, Philippines, etc.) but he loved Seattle the best! In his younger years, he did sumo wrestling and was also an amateur boxer. He won the Minneapolis welter weight Golden Gloves Championship in 1949. He was a lifetime member of the Nisei Veterans Committee and Japanese American Citizens League. In 1981, he testified at the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians hearings @ Seattle Community College to advocate for Japanese American redress which later led to a formal government apology and redress payments to survivors. Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 on August 10th and it was signed into law by President Reagan. A copy of his testimony can be found at: https://ddr.densho.org/media/ddr-densho-67/ddr-densho-67-158-mezzanine-ca3c464336.pdf.

As a child, Frank was interested in music and was a bugler in his Boy Scout’s drum and bugle corp. After retiring, he learned to play the ukulele and joined the Seattle Nikkei Horizons Kimochi Band and was featured on their CD song ~ Crazy G. He also loved the northwest and owned a Bayliner motorboat. His hobbies included fishing, clamming, crabbing, jigging for squid, hunting matsutake, golfing, camping, and eating raw oysters off the coast! He enjoyed gardening and grew the sweetest tomatoes (all varieties), other vegetables like gobo, onions, beans, etc., and had several fruit trees (persimmon or kaki , Asian pear, apple, and prune). He enjoyed participating with his sons at Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church Cub/Boy Scouts, building model airplanes and Pinewood derby miniature race cars. He loved seafood and Japanese food (sashimi, tororo, etc.). Mom was the best cook, but Dad could make a great breakfast, funyu nappa soup, and cabbage/cucumber tsukemono. He loved reading the newspaper, the Peanuts comics and Snoopy. He also used to love bringing home a $5 Chubby & Tubby Christmas tree for us to decorate! He wrote in his journal how he especially loved his family, his loving wife, and his daughter Norma’s cooking. He enjoyed babysitting his granddaughters when they were younger and seeing his 1½ year old great grandson Joel.

After Dad and Mom moved from their Renton home, they moved into the Lakeshore Senior Center for a few months before Mom passed away in 2010. Dad then moved to the Kawabe House for a year, lived several years at Keiro Nursing Home before it closed in August 2019, and passed away at 1st Hope Adult Family Home in Renton. Prior to living at 1st Hope AFH, he had wonderful caretakers from Joe Lee, Home Helpers Direct Link (Akiko, Mikako, Ritsu), Keiro RN Marylou and staff, Keiro Home Care (Eleni, Todd, Mark), and former Keiro CNA’s Norma and Juliet. We’d like to thank the loving care from 1st Hope AFH (RN Josephine, Janet, David, Bilha, Lucy, Anastasia, Abdul, Abnery) and Providence Hospice RN Joy and team, especially during this Covid-19 pandemic. A very special thanks and gratitude to his longtime Pac Med Internal Medicine Specialist, Dr. David D. True.

Frank was preceded in death by his loving wife Dorothy and his siblings Hideko Shimomura, Louise Kashino-Takisaki, Henry Tsuboi, Roy Tsuboi, and Esther Tsuboi. He is survived by his five loving children ~ Carmen Tsuboi Chan (Paul), Frank L, Don (Marilyn), Normalea, Tony; three granddaughters Mika (Andy Faulhaber), Mari (Jesse Enebrad), Michelle Tsuboi, great grandson Joel Enebrad, sister-in law Jane Tsuboi, and many nieces and nephews. We will miss you Dad but will cherish your memories until we meet again.

Due to COVID, there will be no service. A private burial will be held in the Spring or Summer 2021 for Frank. Remembrances may be made to Densho (1416 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98144) or Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church (3001 24th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144).

In Gratitude, thank you for your kind words, support, and thoughtfulness during our time of sorrow. We also thank you for your contributions and memorial donations. Our family will always remember your caring in our days ahead. May God Bless each and every one of you, our many relatives and friends.

The Family of Frank Akira Tsuboi