George K. Morikawa

George K. MORIKAWA Our beloved brother, uncle and great uncle was born in Riverside, CA to Kennosuke and Ayano Morikawa from Wakayama, Japan on May 24, 1918 and died in Seattle, WA on April 3, 2006. George graduated from Point Loma High School on June 14, 1935 and matriculated at the California Institute of Technology where he received his BS in mechanical engineering (1939), MS in ME (1941) and PhD in aeronautical engineering and mathematics (1949) and was a member of Sigma Xi, a national scientific honor society. In the spring of 1942 he went to Wichita Falls, TX under Executive Order 9066 that required that all citizens of Japanese ancestry had to leave the West Coast to an internment camp or a verifiable address off the West Coast. George was an avid skier and enjoyed traveling, reading, collecting Asian art and listening to classical music. George worked at the Chicago Pump Co for two years and at the Illinois Institute of Technology for a year before returning to Pasadena to work and pursue his doctorate at Cal Tech. He worked at the Hughes Aircraft Co. for almost four years and then went to work for the Department of the Navy. In 1953 George went to the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (that later became the Courant IMS) at New York University where he worked until his retirement in 1982. George also consulted for the Atomic Energy Commission and the National Center of Atmospheric Research while he worked at CIMS. George moved to Seattle in March 1996 to be closer to his family. George is survived by his sister, Ryo Tsai; his nieces and nephew, BiHoa Caldwell (Marvin Cooper), Bi-Lan Chiong, Chu-Lan Chiong, Bilin Tsai (Don Poe), Bisim Lee (Larry), Peter Tsai (Joyce) and Mei-Lan (Binko) Chiong (John Bisbee); his great nephews and nieces, Aaron McCay, Mark Caldwell, Adam McCay, Kristi Lee, Sarah Poe, Michael Poe, Melyssa Tsai, David Lee, Ai-Li Chiong-Martinson, Whitney Tsai and Aya Bisbee. His siblings, Anna Fumi Chiong and Kenji Morikawa, preceded George in death. A family graveside service was held. Memorials may be sent to Nikkei Concerns (for the Keiro Nursing Home) at 1601 E Yesler Way Seattle, WA 98122.