Thomas Fujiyoshi

1932 - 2010

Thomas Sadao Fujiyoshi
Husband, father, friend, genius, Thomas Sadao Fujiyoshi left us on September 13, 2010. Tom was born December 14, 1932, son of Thomas Yasaburo Fujiyoshi and Jane Sadako (Takeuchi) Fujiyoshi, first and second generation immigrants working as household staff for an Oklahoma oilman.
Tom earned a mechanical/aeronautical engineering degree at Oklahoma State. He joined the Martin Co. as a rocket engineer at Vandenberg AFB, and married his lifetime love and collaborator Marilyn Foss. He oversaw 109 successful launches and worked his way to upper management, but his greatest pride was raising his three sons. Work took him from Santa Maria to Canada, Washington, DC, and finally Denver, where he retired and turned to volunteering.
Tom and Marilyn found an idyllic Sonoma County home, where Tom lived his greatest contentment, creating fine craft pieces, keeping bees, seeing the western states by camper, and continuing to volunteer.
Tom had a brilliant mind, delighted in ingenuity, and could make instant friends with you. After a brush with death from a thyroid problem as a teen, he considered every new day a bonus. He braved non-smoker's lung cancer for several months, but made his exit with honor when it was time.
Tom was preceded in death by his parents and sister Helen. He is survived by his wife of 46 years; sons Phillip and Matthew and son and daughter-in-law Christopher and Abbey (Hassinger).
He was a remarkable man who enriched the lives of all those fortunate to know him.