Satoru Amaki

Satoru (“Joe”) Amaki, age 89, passed peacefully while living at Pearl City Nursing Home in Pearl City, Hawai’i on September 29, 2016. Satoru was born on December 6, 1926, in Honolulu, the son of Yonejiro and Haru Amaki.

Satoru grew up in Kapahulu as the fifth of seven siblings and graduated from St. Louis High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1945 and attended basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, becoming an Infantryman who served in Europe and the Pacific. He was assigned to the Military Intelligence Service (MIS – “Human Secret Weapon”) which was closely associated with Nisei combat units such as the 442 Combat Regiment and the 100th Infantry Battalion.

Returning to Hawai’i, Satoru attended the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and earned his civil engineer degree and met his future wife Jane while involved in varsity sports such as basketball.

Following graduation from UH, he continued in the Army as a Combat Engineer, assigned to Korea and then to Schofield Barracks, Hawai’i. The Army sent Satoru with his family to Europe, serving with NATO in France, and then at the University of Berkeley Army ROTC (California), U.S. Army Advisor (Reno, Nevada), 25th Infantry Division (Schofield Barracks), Viet Nam, and a solo tour on Johnston Island. He was the District Engineer for U.S. Army Japan for four years, and then returned to Fort Shafter, Hawai’i, before retiring with distinction from active duty military service.

Satoru then focused on serving the people of Hawai’i in the state Department of Transportation as a licensed engineer for more than 10 years before retiring to pursue his passions: Golf, travel, and people. Satoru volunteered for many years as a tour escort for Worldwide Travels and Tours, helping tour groups to Las Vegas, the Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia, various college Bowl games, Caribbean cruises, and foreign sites such as Hong Kong. He also volunteered at the USO, bringing cheer and goodies to the many service members who passed through the Islands. He loved to talk and listen to visitors even though his hearing was not of the best. Thankfully, the Veterans Administration kept him supplied with hearing aids and new batteries and he soldiered on making people happy and enjoying stories.

Satoru recently participated in a book about Japanese American adults in Hawai’i assembled by his niece, Arlene Ching, with vignettes that surprised his family. He was kind, generous, and beloved by all. Even after his move to the nursing home, he had many visitors. Satoru loved to smile and talk to everyone.

Satoru leaves behind his beloved wife of 63 years, Jane (Sanae Fujimoto) Amaki, of Aiea, and his three daughters, Susan Powell (Baron M. Powell of Olympia, WA), Leslie Swannack (David L. Swannack of Lamont, WA), and Donna Amaki-Hull (Kirk P. Hull of Kansas City, MO), his grandchildren, Raymond Swannack, Jason Swannack, Brandon Hull, and Keira Hull, who will miss their grand-dad’s big smiles, as well as his surviving sisters, Jane Nakagawa and Florence Seto, and numerous nephews and nieces.

A memorial service is planned at Borthwick Mortuary, Honolulu, October 23 at 10 AM, casual attire www.borthwickoahu.com Burial will be on October 24 at 3 PM at the National Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl). In lieu of flowers, the Amaki family respectfully requests consideration of donations to the American Diabetes Association, 900 Fort Street Mall, Suite 940, Honolulu HI 96813 or www.diabetes.org