Doris Setsuko Azama

DORIS SETSUKO AZAMA, 96, of Kaneohe, HI went home to the Lord on January 31, 2025. Born in Honolulu, she was preceded in death by her husband Jerry Sakuju Azama; parents George K. and Mikiko Matsumoto; brothers Roy Matsumoto and Carl Matsumoto. Survived by sons Rodney, Wesley, and Kevin Azama (Becky) and daughters Gemey Ogata (Alan) and Lori Yamada (Wayne). Also survived by 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Doris was the last of her Nisei generation for both Azama and Matsumoto families.

Celebration of Life on Friday, March 14, 2025, Hawaiian Memorial Park.

10am Visitation; 11am Service; 12pm Reception. 2pm Inurnment at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery.

Born Doris Setsuko Matsumoto on September 13, 1928, the middle of three children of Mikiko (Mitsuhiro) Matsumoto and George K. Matsumoto. Her brother Roy was two years older and Carl was two years younger. Roy was a WWII 442 RCT veteran. Carl was a Korean War veteran of which she was always proud.

Doris grew up in a Nisei camp in the Palama section of Honolulu. As a child she contracted tuberculosis but fully recovered.

She met Jerry, the love of her life, in 1941. Jerry moved-in to live with an older sister in Kalihi so he could transfer to Farrington High School and be closer to Doris. After graduation, Doris attended business school. She and Jerry married in 1950 and immediately started to raise a family.

They moved to Kaneohe and shared a house with Jerry’s parents on a 2 ½ acre tenant farm. When the landowner sold the property to what would become the Kapunahala development, the family moved to a newly built house several miles away on Mokulele Drive.

Avid gardeners, Doris and Jerry propagated a new species of Christmas cactus and registered it as “Azama’s Pink Angel”. Doris worked as a supervisor at the Oshiro Orchid Nursery near their home in Kaneohe, all while also being a full-time mom of five children.

Doris was a devout Christian who read the Bible, prayed regularly and ensured her children attended church every Sunday. Through her life example and encouragements, her mother and husband became Christians.

She was an avid reader who was ahead of her time, practicing natural, holistic health and maintained a healthy diet for her family. Throughout all her busy activities, her healthy lifestyle and positive zest for life, she always maintained a youthful appearance that belied her actual age. When son Rod left Hawaii for West Point with a big send off at the airport a passerby who noticed Rod bedecked with leis, asked Doris if he was her brother.

Doris was loving, gracious, principled and kind – going out of her way to help people in need and often giving food and clothes to neighbors, friends and family. She never said a bad word about anyone and always saw good in people, often repeating the golden rule to her children: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Doris Setsuko Azama was a special lady – a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and fabulous home chef. She spread joy to all she knew and we all celebrate her 96+ years of a well-lived life.