Dr. Koichi Masubuchi

Dr. Koichi Masubuchi, 92, of Concord, formerly of Arlington Professor Emeritus at M.I.T. in Cambridge, died Friday April 1, 2016 in Concord. He was the beloved husband of 67 years of Fumiko (Kaneko) Masubuchi. Born in Otaru, Japan on January 11, 1924 he was the son of the late Yohsaku and Tomi Masubuchi. He attended schools in Japan and served in the Japanese Navy. In 1959 he received a Ph. D in Engineering from Tokyo University. After coming to the United States in 1963, he was employed for a time at the Battelle Memorial Institute in West Jefferson, Ohio. He began his career at M.I.T. in 1968, working as an Associate Professor of Naval Architecture and promoted to Professor with tenure in 1971 in the Department of Ocean Engineering and later in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, retiring in 2001. Over the past half century through Battelle Memorial Institute and M.I.T., he devoted himself to welding science and engineering, and was involved with the Apollo project for NASA. Dr. Masubuchi was a forty-year resident of Arlington prior to moving to Newbury Court in Concord in 2013. He served as president of the Japanese Association of Greater Boston from 1972 until 1981 and started the Japanese Language School in 1975. The school was originally located in Cambridge, now in Medford. In 1995 Dr. Masubuchi was honored by the Japanese Emperor with the Third Order of Merit with the Order of the Sacred Treasury. He was the brother of Yoshie, Noriko and Masatoshi Masubuchi, all of Japan and the late Toshiko, Kazue, Etsuko, Kumiko and Hirou Masubuchi. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday April 7th from 10 am to 12 Noon followed by a funeral service at 12 Noon in the Farrar Chapel of the Dee Funeral Home, 27 Bedford St., Concord Center. Interment will follow the service in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord. Refreshment reception will be served at Concords Colonial Inn (48 Monument Square, Concord, MA) after the interment. Donations in his memory may be made to Masubuchi Fund, 792 Mass. Ave., Arlington, MA 02476 (in memo- in memory of Dr. Koichi Masubuchi). This fund has been established to support the Japanese Language School of Greater Boston in honor of Dr. Masubuchi. Arrangements are under the care of Charles W. Dee and Susan M. Dee, Dee Funeral Home of Concord. For online guest book please visit www.deefuneralhome. com