Sean Sakae Shimono

Born on a rainy Friday, February 5, 1965, Sean Shimono peacefully passed away at home surrounded by his family on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. He provided his family and friends with 61 years of loving and caring memories with his joyous smile and an infectious laugh.

Although he never married, he provided love, laughter, wit and kindness to everyone he encountered. It is this selfless compassion that remains the hallmark of his character. He proved this by making you feel memorable and a welcome part of his life.

He graduated from THE University of Southern California with a degree in Biomedical Engineering (BS BME ’87), finishing this prestigious degree in just three years so he could enjoy a year of simply being a college student and becoming a computer whiz.

During his leisure time, Sean enjoyed playing rather challenging problem-solving video games or strategic computer simulation games. The problem-solving skills came into play as he pursued his passion for watching USC football, simply saying “USC could solve all its problems by firing the Head Coach!!” Visits to Disneyland filled his days as well, where he couldn’t resist a cool Dole Whip or a crunchy corn dog while not forgetting to try the newest dessert the Disney chefs had come up with. He seemed to have that Disney magic where every encounter with a cast member, particularly the Princesses, would end with his warm smile and their lingering gaze!

He is survived by his loving mother, Sumiko, his best friend and brother, Seth and his two fur babies, Konig and Beschutzer.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened” --Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eulogy for Sean Shimono by Seth Shimono

On a cool rainy Friday on February 5th, 1965, St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach and the world welcomed a newborn boy gifted to Sumiko and Hiroyoshi Shimono. Being Bond film fans, they named this wonderous boy, Blofeld, wait, I mean Sean after the suave and debonair 007, Sean Connery. Even keeping Irish spelling, leading to some wondrous pronunciations such as “Seen,” “See-ahn”… all of which he never responded to, even ignoring Santa Claus holding his gift.

Sean grew up in Long Beach, excelling at academics throughout his elementary, middle school and high school years. Sean also began to show his drive to be the best, he picked up the trumpet and with the help of Dr. Bartner, strove to become first chair. He did this then promptly quit wanting to concentrate more on academics. During high school, Sean was introduced to his creative outlet, the Apple IIe! Aside from playing games on it, Sean quickly learned how to create programs and shortcuts which enabled me to actually USE the computer! And boy, what a computer whiz he became—he could have easily won a role on “Revenge of the Nerds!” After becoming the toast of everyone needing to write a paper, Sean’s quiet personality began to show his compassion and dedication to assist people to do their best.

Unsurprisingly, Sean was accepted and committed to USC, even turning down a Regent’s Scholarship to Cal (yet learning the Cal fight song on trumpet much to the chagrin of my father!). Sean had done his research when picking a major for USC, instead of a more practical major towards medicine, he picked one of the most difficult majors, Biomedical Engineering! Simply because he wanted to challenge

himself. And amazingly, he completed the degree in three years! Fortunately, Mom and his counselors suggested he does the “Matt Leinart” and enjoy his fourth year as a college student. During this time, Sean’s computer skills blossomed even more. Working in the USC Computer store, Sean gained even more skills building and customizing computers for the various departments at USC. But he took it one step further, he would program in simple commands for the user to start and configure the program they wanted to utilize. This reputation spread like wildfire throughout the University, and people would actually have to wait for Sean to work on their units. So it wasn’t unusual to hear a person say, “Well, this is President Zumberge’s office, can’t he spare some time for us?”

In 1985, his computer prowess was on full display while he volunteered at Rancho Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center. He skillfully designed and programmed an electronic drum machine for an unnamed professional drummer. This allowed the one-armed musician to control the various rhythms with his feet. Thankfully, Sean was able to rely on his musical background to assist in this endeavor.

Word of his computer skills must have spread beyond the USC Campus because one day, this skinny guy in a cheap polyester suit appeared in the Computer Store asking for Sean. Sean spent some time with the guy, and when asked what that was all about, he said, “That is this guy named William Gates. He wants me to move up to Seattle and pay me $50 thousand, but half of it would be in stock. I can’t live on $25K, who knows what will happen to Microsoft!!!”

Although, he was accepted to USC’s Medical School, Sean decided to pursue work as a biomedical engineer with an emphasis on computers

and programming and continue a side gig as a computer consultant. And just like all side gigs, the consulting business thrived and also opened his eyes to a whole new world… LAW!

Unfortunately, Sean’s pursuit of going to law school was cut short by a auto accident that changed his life. This resulted in traumatic brain injury and Sean’s recovery would be long and difficult. But with his strength and determination, Sean was able to walk and function, albeit with some deficiencies. But I remember, while at Rancho Los Amigos, he wanted to show me how he could do the obstacle course and steps on his own. He did it but wanted to do it perfectly and so he did it twice.

Sean continued his recovery over the years, volunteering for USC/Keck’s Physical Therapy Department and later assisting at my office. We spent many weekends walking around one of his favorite places, Disneyland and later Disney’s CA Adventure, where he could always sample the newest dessert or culinary creation of the Disney Chefs. Or simply enjoy a crunchy corn dog, Dole Whip or churro.

But as time passed, his body started to slowly betray his will and eventually ended up doing hemodialysis. He then proudly volunteered for me to learn and provide him the treatments at home.

Sean’s home hemodialysis ended up being a blessing in disguise for me. Not only was he at home in a comfortable chair, not a “cleaned” plastic chair, but it gave me time to simply spend with him. Each treatment would either be watching him play a computer game or taking turns playing a video game and talking with him. It is hard to believe we did this for 3 hours 4 days a week for 9 years. And the whole time hearing how bad I was at video games!

Sean blessed my life and those around him with his wit, generosity, sharing his love of eating out, movies, and rooting and complaining about USC football. All this wrapped up in a man with impeccable manners and grace. This ray of sunshine will be truly madly deeply and completely missed. Rest in peace, my brother and best friend, Sean.