Donald Kunio Kunimitsu passed away peacefully and unexpectedly in his sleep on January 14, 2023. He was 85 and born in South Hilo, Hawaii, on September 1, 1937, to Yoshio and Tokie (Iwanaka) Kunimitsu. Donald graduated from Hilo High School with honors and continued his education at the University of Hawaii where he received his B.S. degree in Chemistry and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry. He then completed three years of postdoctoral research in the Chemistry Department of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He retired as a professor of biochemistry at California State University, Fresno, after a rewarding and enriching thirty-one years of teaching.
Donald was preceded in death by his sister, Linda Ashikawa (Gary), his brother, Melvin Kunimitsu (Elaine), and his sister-in-law, Sadie Tanoura (Thomas) and his Brother-In Law Eddie Yee (Ellen). He is survived by his wife, Vivian, his daughters, Cheryl Heatherly and Janis Schaap (Ryan) and his grandson, Nicholas Schaap. He is also survived by his sister, Ellen Yee and his brother, Reginald Kunimitsu (Mary), sister-in-law, Elaine Kunimitsu, brother-in-law, Gary Ashikawa, and sister-in-law Harriet Mizuguchi (Norman), as well as a number of nieces and nephews. A graveside family service will be held later this year where Donald will be laid to rest in a family plot in his home state of Hawaii.
Donald will be remembered as kind, good-hearted and sincere, a loving and dedicated husband and father.
A Celebration of Life time will be held on Saturday, February 11, 2023 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM at Whitehurst Sullivan Burns & Blair Funeral Home, 836 E. Nees Ave., Fresno, CA 93720.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.whitehurstsullivan.com for the Kunimitsu family.
