He was born on January 9, 1926 in Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii, the son of the late Nobumi and Shizuyo Tokunaga. He was the 4th of five siblings and the last in his family. On May 1, 1948, he married Ayano Betty (Fujimura) Tokunaga, who survives.
He served in the US Army as a mechanic during the World War II in the Hawaiian Islands and luckily not in an internment camp.
He worked at Houdaille Industries/ Burgmaster Division in Los Angeles for over thirty years and after retirement, did consulting work for them for several years.
He was predeceased by his son, Dannie Tokunaga in 2009. He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Leslie and Douglas Womack of Atlanta, GA.; his daughter and son-in-law, Lani and Stephen Rabin, MD of Los Angeles, CA.; his daughter-in-law, Donna Tokunaga of Aliso Viejo, CA.; Grandchildren, Erik and Daniella Dell of Glendale, CA.; Nikki (Rabin), PhD and Alex Rosenblatt of Beverly Hills, CA.; Alexa Rabin, PsyD of San Diego, CA; Harris Rabin of Culver City, CA.; and Great-Grandchildren, Cash and Wolf Rosenblatt of Beverly Hills, CA.
He enjoyed his ukulele, Hawaiian music and telling jokes. I'm not sure if he struggled with the racism of being Japanese in a white society after moving to California in 1953, but I know he held that in. He was a hard worker and provided for his family in hard times. We never felt that we didn't have enough. We had family.
Due to the Cofid-19 pandemic, memorial services will be held at a later date.
www.fukuimortuary.com
(213)626-0441
