Kenneth A. Narahara

September 14, 1944 - July 24, 2023 Kenneth A. Narahara was born on Sept. 14, 1944 in Topaz, Utah. His father, Shigemori Narahara and mother, Mary Kaneko Narahara were among the 120,000+ Americans of Japanese descent forced to relocate their families during WWII. Kenneth and his two brothers, Mr. Gerald Narahara and Mr. Dean Narahara eventually grew up in deep south Texas on the vegetable and citrus farm their parents purchased and ran until their retirement.
Kenneth graduated from Rice University in 1970, followed by graduation from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School with an MD. He progressed to specialize in Cardiology. He served in the USAF at The School of Aerospace at Brooks AFB, Texas from 1973 to 1975, with the rank of Captain, where he provided monitoring and treatment to Air Force pilots and other flight staff, including their testing in a human centrifuge and altitude chambers. He then joined the staff at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, where he practiced Cardiology.
Dr. Narahara was the longstanding Chief of Cardiology at Harbor UCLA Hospital, where he managed patients with cardiac disease and instructed and mentored many classes of intern and fellows. Following his retirement, Dr. Narahara volunteered weekly to read patient EKG's and instruct aspiring cardiologists on the EKG interpretive nuances and critical considerations. He was additionally a world-renowned expert on Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and its pharmacologic therapy alternatives, participated in numerous, associated clinical trials, and had, earlier in his career, pioneered the field of Nuclear Cardiology, now used worldwide for the diagnosis of cardiac disease. There are numerous medical publications, regarding cardiac disease diagnosis and treatment, authored by Dr. Narahara, in world-class medical journals including the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and Circulation.
In addition to his expertise in Cardiology, and the associated global meetings with his colleagues, Dr. Narahara traveled extensively in the US and abroad, with a passion for photography. He was fascinated with the Anasazi Indian tribe and their abandoned dwellings in Arizona, which he researched and visited several times. He also visited most of the US National Park and spent considerable time in the Mojave Desert's National Preserve, which he loved. He was also a fan of dragster racing, and regularly attended the Pomona, CA, races on weekends.
Kenneth leaves a profound void in his family and friends, who reveled in his "Zen of Ken", his unique personality and brilliant mind, and his unfailing kindness and generosity. He was a very private person who managed to engender strong kinship in so many.