TAMURA, John Haruki (94), survived by his sons Paul (Dennis Tran) and Dr. Glen (Kenneth Comstock) both of Seattle; daughters Amy (David) Muramatsu of Maui and Susan "Suki" (George) Geller of San Diego; grandchildren Matthew, Serey, John, Brian, and Kevin; and brother Ed (Haru) Tamura. He was predeceased by his loving wife Tomoko. The family requests that flowers please be omitted.

Funeral, Saturday, February 22, 10:00AM at Fukui Mortuary Chapel, 707 E Temple St., L.A.  with Pastor Tommy Dyo officiating.

John Haruki Tamura (1925-2020)
John Haruki Tamura was born to Shotaro and Shigeko Tamura in Florin, just south of
Sacramento. He had an older sister Bea, an older brother Spud and a younger brother Ed. Dad
needed a passport right away because in 1926, before Ed was born, the family moved to
Wakayama, Japan, so that Shotaro could take care of his ailing father. Two years later they
moved back to California and resumed farming, first in Folsom, then in Loomis, finally returning to
Florin when this photo was taken.
Here are the brothers, Spud, Johnny and Eddie in 1936, and Dad as a 16-year-old in 1941.
World War II took the family to the Fresno Assembly Center, then on to Jerome, Arkansas, where
Dad – grateful for the break from farmwork – graduated high school. Spud joined the army, and
Dad, Ed and their parents moved to Cincinnati with the assistance of the Quakers to work for the
Rauh family. Shotaro was the handyman, Shigeko was the cook and maid, and Dad was the
houseboy. Ed was just 10 years old so he didn't have to work. After being rejected by coworkers
at the factory owned by the Rauh's because he was a Jap, Dad found a job elsewhere winding
transformers. Little did he know at the time that he would become an electrical engineer.
Dad was drafted into the Army in April 1945 and became part of the occupation forces in Japan.
He made a photo album of his years in camp and another of his Army years. We'll have them at a
table during lunch.

Upon his return from Japan, Dad moved to Los Angeles where his parents lived and got his
degree in electrical engineering at USC thanks to the GI Bill. He went on to get a Masters Degree
at UC Berkeley.
In 1950 he got an itch to get hitched, and decided that the best place to find a nice girl was at
church. So he started attending Union Church on San Pedro Street. There he saw Tomoko Fukui.
The next week he saw her again and asked her out on a date. Things must have worked out,
because in 1951 they got married.
Honeywell in Minneapolis hired Dad, so their honeymoon was a road trip that included the
Badlands of South Dakota – the first of countless trips they would make together. They soon
experienced their first midwest winter, something they never got used to. But every year Spring
arrived, and with it smiles. They set up house and started furnishing it with iconic midcentury
modern furniture, some of which is still in the house today.
In 1953 Amy arrived. Dad looks a little unsure of himself.
Later that year they took Amy on the road to visit Mom's family in LA on the second floor of this
very building.

In 1955 Paul arrived. He's sitting in an Eames fiberglass chair that is still at the house, but with a
big crack in it from when the kids were rough-housing. The next year, Paul decided it was too cold
in Minneapolis and demanded that the family move back to California.
In 1957, Suki arrived. There's that chair again.
In December of 1958, Glen was born. Dad must have gotten bored with photos in iconic chairs.
The family was now complete. Soon they went on one of countless trips to Descanso Gardens,
this time with Ojichan and Obachan Tamura.
In 1961 they moved to Encino in their first mid-century modern home. They only lived there 11
months before moving to Sherman Oaks. Dad loved his house perched on the canyon wall with a
spectacular view. It was "mid-century modern" before the term was coined. His furniture matched
the house perfectly; the kids could swim; cymbidiums could flourish; he could watch the wildlife.
Eventually he added a shop for his woodworking hobby.
Every year there was a family vacation, each year going farther away. They started with short
trips to the San Francisco Japanese Garden and the wildflowers in the high desert. Later we saw
Anasazi ruins, Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and innumerable other National Parks and
sights. Education was always important, so we never missed a chance to hear a ranger talk.
In 1968 we got our first taste of RV life, renting a camper to see Washington State and Mount
Rainier. That fall, we tried a tent trailer. Mom - not the rugged outdoors type - drew the line and
we never did that again!
So the next year Dad bought a bigger RV (not this one, but one like it), and customized it to sleep
six instead of just four. Then off we went on a trip to the east coast where of course we stopped at
the White House. On the way back we saw the Badlands - the second time for Mom and Dad, 18
years after their honeymoon trip.
After that, Dad was hooked on RV life. He bought and customized a Roadtrek RV, complete with
kitchen and bathroom. He drove Mom and sometimes friends or one or two of their children on
innumerable trips, sightseeing and bird watching, to all 50 states. They took five trips to see
examples of modern architecture across the US, from early Frank Lloyd Wright to Philip
Johnson's iconic mid century modern house to post-modern Michael Graves to his favorite –
Frank Gehry's crazy curves.
After Dad retired, he and Mom traveled internationally almost every year to every continent
except Antarctica. They especially loved Africa, but who could forget a trip to the pyramids or the
Galapagos Islands?
Dad had endless wonderful qualities. He was lifelong woodworker. It started with him having to
make his own toys as a child. As an adult he made everything from simple napkin holders and
jewelry boxes and our childhood beds, to entire living and dining room sets. He even remodeled
five kitchens – two of them for Suki.

Dad studied engineering, but he always wanted to be an artist. After retirement he took classes,
including oil painting where he copied old masters, sumi-e, and drawing.
In 2010 Dad's beloved wife of 59 years passed away. The next few years were difficult for him. At
the time, Grandson Matthew was living at the house while attending UCLA and had to eat what
Grandpa cooked as he learned his way around the kitchen. Fortunately Suki came up from San
Diego every other weekend to make sure things were okay.
Dad continued to travel until he was 89, visiting family in Seattle and Hawaii. He bounced back
from brain surgery in 2014, and spent his last 5 years closer to home – but who needs to leave
home when you can see a big bobcat walking on the back deck? Dad had a number of loving
caregivers and eventually Matthew moved back in to be the primary caregiver.
He exercised almost daily with friends at the local Senior Center, participated in Alzheimers
Association activities, continued to visit his favorite art museums and galleries around LA, spent
time with special, long-time friends and family, took day trips to San Diego and Kingsburg, went
birdwatching at the Sepulveda Basin and Descanso Gardens, watched football, watched football,
watched football, and enjoyed his favorite foods – especially seafood and outrageous desserts!
All of this from his beloved home base in Sherman Oaks, where he passed away peacefully,
surrounded by his children and grandchildren. When asked about what made him special, his family had this to say:

AMY: Dad had HONESTY - When I was around 5-6, I had many bad days, misbehaving as a
"changeling child". I tried lying, and of course Mom caught me - but she didn't scold me. Instead
she had Dad talk to me - he calmly quoted Shakespeare's words "to thine own self be true". I
never forgot that lesson (although I still find it's a challenge, one of my friends said recently "Ask
Amy - she'll tell you the TRUTH!"). Dad had PATIENCE - one of my biggest challenges was
Algebra in Jr High. Dad would sit down and tutor me at night. I would scream and cry "I still don't
understand!". But he kept at it until I finally said "I GET IT !!!".

PAUL: Dad was meticulous. Our five architecture road trips were thoroughly researched. Dad
made spreadsheets with locations, distances, travel times, and where to spend the night. The
same meticulous research and planning went into everything Dad did. Sometimes a building had
already been torn down or they hadn't yet broken ground on a new building, but he never got
flustered.

SUKI: Dad was a fantastic conversationalist because he would ask questions and attentively
listen to answers with empathy and understanding. My friends loved chatting with Mom and Dad.
Dad didn't scold, argue, or raise his voice; instead he would ask eye-opening questions and give
advice. He was a great role model. Dad was generous, spending many hours on carpentry
projects for all of his kids. Dad loved puzzles and solving problems during kitchen remodels and
the like. I never saw him become angry or frustrated when things didn't work out like he planned.
He'd just go back to the drawing board and get it right the second time around.
GLEN: Dad was always curious – about everything. He loved to travel – we all remember the
three-week vacations we took every year when we were in grade school all across the United
States, Mexico, and Canada, and after he retired, he and Mom always were preparing for some
fantastic trip. Alas, he never made it to Antarctica! He loved architecture, theater, art, and music –
including a lot of "experimental" and "avant garde" works that I have to admit left me puzzled.
And of course, he was a scientist and engineer, so truly a renaissance man.

DAVID (Amy's husband): I remember John as an inspirational, successful and accomplished
individual, husband, father and grandfather. During the last several years, I got to know John
better than I knew my own father.
- By accompanying him to museums, concerts and restaurants, I learned to appreciate his
world.
- I enjoyed cooking Japanese meals for him, that reminded him of when he was growing up.
- John was a frugal family-man - he would insist on paying the entire bill at a restaurant. But then
he would park and walk across a multi-lane boulevard, braving the traffic, at age 88 - to avoid a
parking fee!
- He LOVED watching his favorite teams play professional and collegiate football and basketball
games on TV, tracking the season's rankings, in spite of his declining memory.
John was an Inspiration in my life - and an inspiration on how to live a rich life to its fullest.

DENNIS (Paul's husband): John was an inspirational artist, especially as a woodworker. Every
piece of furniture he made for his children speaks for itself. My favorite masterpiece is the
entertainment center tansu he made for our home in Seattle. We had an idea, but when it landed
in John's hand, a most gorgeous piece of furniture came alive. Each time I see the tansu in the
den of our house, I'm still in awe and have great respect and appreciation for John's ingenuity,
creativity and meticulousness. Thank you, John, for inspiring me to live humbly; to find magic in
each day through art, music and science; and to create things that bring beauty to the world.

KEN (Glen's husband): John was a kind and thoughtful man. He had one of the brightest,
intellectually curious minds I have ever seen. He wanted to know about everything and if he
needed more information he went after it with laser focus. I do not think there was anything he
could not have done if he set his mind on it. He will be missed a lot, but I am happy he and
Tommy are together again — he missed her…

RAE: My Grandpa was one the most kind-hearted and patient men I have ever met. One of my
most fondest memories of him was going into his workshop and asking him all sorts of questions
about what he was doing. Grandpa would show me how he'd measure every piece, how he'd cut
the wood with that crazy saw he had, but the best part was he'd let me help him sand down parts
of his almost finished product. He loved all of his children and grandchildren endlessly.

JOHNNY: One of my favorite memories of Grandpa was when he built a small wooden sail boat
for my brothers and I. On the maiden voyage we set sail on a calm day on lake Washington.
Unfortunately the keel had too much epoxy on it and wasn't fitting in the slot where it was meant
to go! Without the keel we weren't able to sail and we were drifting further and further from shore.
Luckily we had wooden oars on board and we were able to row back to shore. Needless to say
the events from the day were memorable and I'm glad that Grandpa was there to see the first
voyage of that little red boat he put so much work into.

BRIAN: I remember when we were little, we used to be obsessed with Harry Potter, so one day
we asked Grandpa to make us wands. A normal person would have just told us to pick up a stick
and use that as a wand, but Grandpa went out of his way help us find the perfect size stick, and
then sanded it down, so it really looked like a magic wand from Harry Potter, and he didn't just
make one, he made all of the cousins one, and then when we broke them he made us
replacements.

KEVIN: One of my fondest memories of Grandpa was when we all took a trip to Jordan and we
visited Petra. He had so much more energy than the rest of us, checking out all the ancient ruins.
It seemed like he didn't get tired even when the rest of us were tired. I will always remember that
trip and I'm happy that Grandpa was there to experience it with us.

MATTHEW: What I remember best are the small conversations. Like the time said that the best
part about being an engineer was making something and feeling it hum in your hands. Or how he
was always so enthusiastic about seeing a new art exhibit, or talking about his travels overseas.
Or memories of his early days, when his family was interned, the aftermath of the war, and how
he met grandma at church.