Teruo Or Terry Okamura
In Loving Memory
We said goodbye to a sweet, sweet soul of a man with a sweet tooth to match, Teruo (Terry) Okamura. More commonly known as Grandpa, he was one of the happiest people you’d ever meet. So many of the nurses remembered him from his frequent ER visits over the last few months because he makes such a strong impression. From childhood on the plantations in Hilo, he learned to work hard, be grateful, and never complain. He loved his family fiercely, and considered it an honor, duty and privilege to provide and care for them. He worked in the cane fields and pineapple fields on Hawaii and Maui as a boy and young man; but his mother was an educated Japanese woman who “really drove it in our heads”that education was imperative and she wanted all her children to go to college. Terry not only attended college at UH, but babysat for his sister Amy WHILE studying! After he got his masters at USC and started working as a civil engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, he helped pay for his youngest brother’s education. Whenever he saw his grandkids, the first question without fail was always, “Are you still going to school?”
He also loved plants, raising orchids and sago palms in his back yard for years. When he was much older and suffering from dementia, he would see bruises and scratches that were actually from falling or diabetic wounds, but he would say, “Hm! Must’ve got that working in the yard!” He loved playing sports and watching them. He told us he played every sport (football, basketball , baseball) growing up - because they needed all the kids to make even teams- and he played baseball in college. The only played position we could ever get out of him in any of those sports, though, was “short stop and second base.”
He was never heard complaining. He lived satisfied and content. He loved wholeheartedly and provided for both his family of origin and the family he created. Even the workers at the In n Out on Valley View that he’d go to daily looked forward to him ordering “the usual. “ A memorable man. A deeply loved husband, father and grandfather. “Thanks for coming!” Aloha a hui noi