George and Janice Sakurai

Janice (Toshiko) Tanaka Sakurai, 89, of Orange, California, passed away peacefully on January 19, 2023. Her husband, George Jiro Sakurai, 93, also of Orange, California, peacefully passed four days later, on January 23, 2023.

As children during WWII, both Janice and George were interned at the Minidoka Relocation Facility in Hunt, Idaho. Though they did not know each other at the time, George’s sister, Lily, was Janice’s fourth grade teacher at the facility. Janice always found this coincidence amusing; perhaps even fate.

Janice and George were married nearly 70 years ago on February 1, 1953, and lived in Corvallis, Oregon, where George was a student at Oregon State University. After his graduation and acceptance to medical school, they moved to Portland, Oregon, where they lived until George received his M.D. from the University of Oregon Medical School.

George began his private practice in Medford, Oregon, then moved into the public sector in Springfield, Missouri. He continued his career when they moved to Westminster, California two years later.

Janice enjoyed working for Ford Aerospace in Newport Beach, California. She especially enjoyed the friendships and camaraderie of her coworkers and manager.

Janice and George are survived by George’s brother, Edward Sakurai, their daughter, Amy Sakurai, and her children, Katie and Daniel, their son, Larry Sakurai, and another daughter, Leslie Curl, and her children, Stephen and Christopher.

A “Celebration of Love and Lives” will be held at Westminster Memorial Park, Westminster, California, on March 19, 2023, at 12pm.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at

www.WestminsterMemorial.net for the Sakurai family.