Satsuki Omae was born on August 26, 1926 in Gardena, California as Satsuki Shiga, along with her fraternal twin brother, Jiro.  Father, Yonekichi, and Mother, Hisae, were proud and probably surprised parents.  Satsuki also had an older brother, Yoshikazu, and an older sister, Miyako.

Before Satsuki and Jiro could start school in California, the entire family went back to Japan to take care of their elderly grandparents.

Tragically, twin brother Jiro died in an accident at the age of ten, leaving Satsuki as the baby of the family.  In later years, older brother Yoshikazu emigrated to America, ultimately settling in the Chicago area.  Older sister Miyako got married, and had a son, Toshinobu.

In 1949, Satsuki wed Shigeru through an arranged marriage and moved into the Omae family home in Funatsu, Wakayama-ken.

The following March, Masao was born.  Second son, Nobuo, was born in August 1952.

After months of trying, the US occupation forces approved Shigeru's application to emigrate back to the country of his birth, the US.  In 1955, Shigeru left Japan for a fresh start in the United States, in California's central valley under a two year labor contract, while Satsuki and his two sons had to stay behind.

After being separated for more than a year, in January 1957, Satsuki sailed from Japan to the US with 5 other ladies in a single cabin, finally joining Shigeru in Los Angeles.

By Christmas 1958, Satsuki and Shigeru had saved enough money to have Masao and Nobuo fly to Los Angeles, accompanied by Shigeru's mother.

Six months later, Shigeru and Satsuki had a third son, Roger.  For the first time as a mother, Satsuki was able to enjoy raising her child on her own, which she did not get to do with her first 2 boys.

Satsuki took in shirts to be ironed from neighborhood businessmen so she could work from home.  Once Roger got older, Satsuki resumed her job doing piecework, sewing men's dress shirt collars.

In order to contribute more to the family finances, Satsuki went to trade school to get a better job as a grocery store checker and landed a part time job at an Outlet store near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.

Finally, she got an opportunity as a part time cashier at the neighborhood Vons grocery store in 1969, which was a good paying union job.  Satsuki did not take her good fortune for granted.  Back when newspapers published the new grocery store sales items and specials every Wednesday, Satsuki would study that two page newspaper advertisement and scribble notes on it so she could refer to it as need be the rest of the week.  She took it on her own to learn how to run a 10-key by touch so she could be as productive as possible.  She also arrived to work 30 minutes early every day so she could walk the produce aisle to identify and price any new items.  Satsuki became the checker that all other checkers went to when they had questions.

After performing at a consistently high level for years, she earned a coveted promotion to full-time status, along with steady predictable hours.  One of her proudest moments was when she was recognized as her store's Vons Grocery Checker of the Year in 1977.

Even though she was 30 years older than some of her fellow checkers, Satsuki always strove to be near the top of the productivity list.  She helped her son, Roger, land a job at Vons, where he worked for nearly 10 years.

In 1990, Satsuki retired after 21 years at Vons, and Shigeru and Satsuki started their retiree life in Huntington Beach to help raise Masao's 2 kids, Scott and Amy, who were now in kindergarten and elementary school.  Grandma Satsuki would become a constant presence in their young lives.  She often visited Roger and her grandson, Chris after they moved back to California in 1995.

Satsuki is survived by her loving husband, Shigeru; sons Masao, Nobuo and Roger, grandchildren Scott, Amy, and Chris,  and 4 great-grandchildren. A private funeral service was held on June 27, at Orange County Buddhist Church officiated by Rev. Dr. Mutsumi Wondra.