Ted Takumi Yamashita

January 22, 1917 - April 10, 2010

Takumi Ted Yamashita was born in Baldwin Park, CA on January 22, 1917. He was the second of five children born to Riyosuke and Kae (Hiraoke) Yamashita. Ted lived in Baldwin Park until he was six years old, after which the family moved to Rosemead. He attended Rosemead Grammar School and El Monte High School. His education was interrupted halfway during his senior year when the Great Depression forced his family to move back to Japan.

While living in Rosemead, Ted worked on the Yamashita farm with his family. One of his jobs as a young boy was to walk out to the far side of the fields and indicate to his father when the irrigation water had reached all the way across the rows of vegetables. He would do this by raising a long wooden stick with a white cloth attached to one end, and wave it so his father knew to stop the water.

As Ted recalled, his family grew many vegetables. One of them was cauliflower, and they would pack them in wooden crates that could hold four to six heads. When two crates of cauliflower only brought the family five cents during the Depression, Ted said his father had enough and decided to move everyone back to Hiroshima, Japan.

Ted was about 17 years old, and he was very proud of his family’s beautiful two story home in Hiroshima. “It was the nicest house in Hiroshima”. The family actually owned land about 16 miles outside of Hiroshima because that is where his father was from originally. Ted describes the land as near two mountains, and his last name “Yamashita” means ”below the mountain”.

When Ted was about 19, he returned to California to try to finish his education. He began working in a produce market as a clerk selling fruits and vegetables. He entered the U. S. Army in 1941 and served until 1942. As a serviceman, Ted was not interned in the Japanese Concentration Camps like his brothers Mike and Yoshio, who were sent to Hart Mountain, Wyoming. Ted spent most of his time stationed at a base near Chicago working as a medic. He was not able to see his brothers while they were interned, so he sent them money, and went to Wyoming after he was discharged from the army.

The atomic bomb dropped at Hiroshima did destroy the Yamashita family home. Ted also points out that it destroyed his bank account in Japan. Ted recounts that Hiroshima knew the bombing was coming, so they put up electric balls in the open areas away from the city. They hoped to trick any enemy planes into thinking they were actually over the city, and the planes would drop their bombs on an unpopulated area. Ted’s family was spared on the day of the atomic bomb, as they were visiting relatives outside of Hiroshima in the country.

Ted soon left Wyoming and moved to Los Angeles to work for an engineering firm as a draftsman. An opportunity arose when Ted was invited to work for an architectural firm in Redlands. By this time, Ted had met and married Lois Setsuko Goto whom he met in Los Angeles. They rented a place in Redlands, and soon purchased their home at 222 Primrose Avenue. This would be the only home Ted would purchase, and his three daughters Lori, Shari and Joyce were raised there.

After Lois passed away in 1980, Ted worked hard to make sure that his three daughters could graduate from college. He took on extra consulting work with architectural firms, and was able to attend the weddings of all three girls. He worked for 40 years as a self-taught electrical engineer.

Ted was at the birth of his first grandchild, John Takumi Hammeras, and was very happy to get his first boy. Ted also attended the births of his second grandson, Craig Cameron Sirois, and his only granddaughter, Summer Setsuko Hammeras. He was blessed with two more grandsons, Ian Ichiro Mount and Aidan Takeo Mount.

Ted moved from Redlands in 2001 to live with Lori and her family in Tustin, CA. He kept very busy rewiring sockets for everyone, watching John and Craig play baseball, attending high school football and soccer games, driving out to Calimesa to visit his friend, Yukiko Berg, gardening, and walking to the store to buy treats for his best friend, Huff ( Lori’s golden retriever).

Ted’s final move was to Irvine Cottage #5 in Irvine. This is a Residence Care in Northwood where six residents share a house and have a minimum of two full time caregivers on site. He loved it there, and his last year and a half was filled with music, art, field trips, visits from Huff, outings with his private care nurse, Roselie, holiday parties, and daily walks.

Ted was a quiet man who faced much loss in his life. He lost his family home in California and in Japan. He lost contact with his brothers during World War II when he was denied visitation rights to the Internment Camp. He lost his savings after the war. He lost his wife thirty years ago when she was only 49. His brothers also passed away.

These difficult experiences helped to shape Ted into a person who never forgot the importance of hard work and dedication. He was frugal and careful with his savings, and encouraged his children to be the same way. He taught his children through his example, that it is possible to come back from what may seem to be a hopeless situation. He was happiest when he was busy working on a project to make something grow out of nothing. This explains why he loved to farm so much, and it is only now that I understand why Ted liked to cultivate what I believed to be just weeds in our backyard. It is what he did throughout his entire life. Work hard, and you can grow something from nothing. Work even harder, and you can transform that “something” into something beautiful. Banzai!