Kazue "Kaye" Okitsu nee Ohashi, June 24, 1918 to February 3, 2013, devoted mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt, passed away at age 94. She was born in El Monte, California, and grew up in Owensmouth, which was renamed Canoga Park during her childhood. She was the fourth daughter in a family of five girls. A graduate of Canoga Park High School, she moved with her parents to West Los Angeles in the 1930's and attended barber college in downtown LA.
In 1942, she moved to Denver, Colorado as a newlywed with her husband George Ichihara. They worked the summer months out of Lansdale, Pennsylvania as poultry chick sexers and spent the winter months in Denver where she worked as a barber in the Larimer neighborhood. They moved back to West LA at the end of World War II,
Kaye assumed proprietorship of Sawtelle Barber Shop from her sister in the 1950's. She was remarried in 1956 to Jou Okitsu, a pharmacist and World War II veteran of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. She continued to work part time as a barber on Sawtelle Boulevard for the next 30 years.
Kaye was active as a PTA president at Edison Elementary School in Santa Monica, Cub Scout den mother, senior citizen center volunteer, and member of the West LA Buddhist Temple. She used her artistic talents in her hobbies that included needlepoint, macramé, and various arts and crafts. She and her husband Jou were enthusiastic ballroom dancers. Her other interests included fishing and traveling.
Kaye is predeceased by her husband Jou and sisters Toshiko Ichikawa and Amy Tominaga. She is survived by her children Ronald Ichihara, Ann Okitsu-Saeed, Walter (Cindy), and Edward (Wen-Ling); four grandchildren Christina Saeed, Brian, Timothy, and Tabitha Okitsu; sisters Shizue Naramura and Hideko Mochizuki; and many nephews and nieces in the U.S. and Japan.
Her memorial service will be held on February 22, 11 a.m. at the West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple, 2003 Corinth Ave., West Los Angeles, CA, followed immediately by burial at Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica.