John M. Owada

John Owada Obituary

John M. Owada 1927 ~ 2007 John M. Owada passed away November 14, 2007.He was born March 14, 1927 in Tacoma, WA. He was evacuated from Vashow, WA at the start of World War II to Tule Lake, CA; then to Minidoka, ID. He served in the Army during World War II and the Korean War; then in the Army Reserves thru the 1980's. He retired from Tooele Ordnance and was an active member of the Japanese Presbyterian Church, DAV and VFW. Survived by mother, Kikue Kanzaki; brothers, Ed Owada and Saburo Sam; Toru Saito; Walter and Ben; sisters, May Takashima and Haruko (Niles) Bruce. Predeceased by father, Frank T. and sister, Jane Escobido. Funeral services will be Tuesday, Dec. 4th, at 1 p.m. at Larkin Mortuary 260 E. South Temple. Viewing from 10:45 to 12:45 prior. Interment, Salt Lake City Cemetery.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Salt Lake Tribune on Dec. 2, 2007.

Memories and Condolences
for John Owada

Sponsored by Sabaku, Inc..

9 Entries

Theodore OKAWA

December 18, 2007

As a soldier in the Army myself, I felt proud to see Japanese Americans represented in uniform by a man of fine character and devotion as John Owada. I'll miss seeing him in the veteran's color guard. Theodore H. OKAWA, LTC (Ret), USAR

Mark Pack

December 5, 2007

I worked with John on the D.A.V honor guard team, The last few years John would set in the front seat of the van on the way to the cemetery and let me know if I was going the right way. There was not one cemetery that John did not know how to get too. we will all miss him...

Kerry Yo Nakagawa

December 4, 2007

I will treasure the support, friendship and incredible humanity of John Awada.I remember being out in the intense Skull Valley heat during the filming of 'American Pastime' and seeing this Nisei man in a suit, overcoat and oxygen tubes into his nose.I asked him to take a break in the shaded tent and his answer was,"If my Mom could take four years of this heat at Topaz, I can stand one day."I told this story of courage and spirit at our exhibit /booksigning and John was in the audience with fellow comrades Ted Shimizu and Ted Sato.They say if you can see their smile and hear their voice, they are always with you in spirit. John,Jim Tazoi, Taka Kida and Seth Sakai's spirits are soaring.

Connor Griffith

December 3, 2007

Thank you for your service to our Country, and to countless veterans over the years as you have helped provide honors for them at their funerals. Glad to have known who you were.
Connor
Deseret Mortuary
Salt Lake City, Utah

Vernon Wade

December 3, 2007

John has been a long time (12 years) friend. He was a past All American Department Commander of the Department of Utah Veterans of Foreign Wars.I had the pleasure of being on many Color Guard Burial Details with John as well as marching in many parades with him. As the current Department of Utah VFW Commander, it was a distinct honor for me to have John with us at our National Convention in August of this year at Kansas City, Missouri! I was able to present him with one of my Department Commander's Pins and shirts! John was a one of a kind guy that will be totally irreplacable in the VFW. You just do not find very many true gentlemen like John anymore! He was truly dedicated to the VFW and the DAV. His indomitable spirit was a great inspiration to many of us. As a personal friend and inspiration to me, I will sorely miss John!

Tomoko moses

December 3, 2007

John was always there for Salt Lake City and Matsumoto, Japan sister cities events with sound system. I have a great respect for John in uniforms at Go for Broke events. It was the JACL events in Ogden when I saw him last. My sincere condolence to his mother and the rest of his family.

We lost a great American hero.

Raymond and Yo Uno

December 2, 2007

I have known John for many years as a quiet, soft spoken, generous, kind and considerate person. He volunteered for many different projects, without fanfare but in a very efficient and effective manner. Particularly, he was present at many veterans funerals and made arrangements for many formal military funerals (leading the honor guards), many being Nisei veterans. I do not know if anyone can take his place in the manner and proficiency with which he so willingly dispatched his duty so often and for so long with little or no recognition from the community he so proudly served. Our thoughts and condolences to his family and want them to know John was a very, very special person of which we can all justifiably be very proud.

Anita Y. Tsuchiya

December 2, 2007

I was always running into John at various functions: JACL, Japanese Church, Veterans. My most memorable time with him was one day during the filming of "American Pastime"--a movie that uses the context of baseball to explore the impact of WWII on two American families.

Please read my blog entry at:
http://futureangels.mlblogs.com/futureangels/2007/11/american_pastim.html

Bill Foster

December 2, 2007

I often ran into John at the Jade Cafe and had Dinner or Coffee with John.
John was a Happy, Loveing Person he never had a mean bone in his body. Always happy too see you.
John will be Greatly Missed by all.

Showing 1 - 9 of 9 results