OBITUARY: Jun Akagi

AKAGI, JUN, 87, passed away on July 5, 2010 at Summit Medical Center in Oakland, Calif. due to complications following hip surgery.

Jun was born on May 23, 1923, the youngest of 6 children, to Kosaburo and Yae Akagi. He was raised in Berkeley and Stockton and spent most of his adult life in Oakland. He graduated from Berkeley High School in December 1941, later sent to War Relocation Authority assembly centers at Tanforan and Topaz (Utah). He later relocated to Salt Lake City and Chicago where he worked as a welder in war-related plants.

Early into WWII he volunteered for the Army but was refused because of his ancestry. He was drafted in 1945 and was stationed in Korea. After returning to the States he met and married Bessie Katsuko Takahashi of Loomis, Calif. He successfully operated gasoline stations (Signal, Enco, Texaco) and partnered in the Diggery Inn and the Oakland Grill restaurants.

He was a quiet, loving family man who worked hard to provide for his family and give his children opportunities he did not have. He enjoyed woodworking, reading, tinkering on cars, and doing “nothing.”

He was preceded in death by brothers George, Yasuo, Mitsuro, Tamatsu, sister Terry and son-in-law Lloyd Takahashi. He is survived by his beloved wife Bessie of 56 years, 4 children Wayne (Mayumi), Daniel (Sandia), Jacqueline and Collyn (Tran). He is survived by his 7 grandchildren Thomas, Naomi, Darcie, Raymond and Katie Akagi, Jacob and Kimiko Takahashi.

A memorial service will be held at Berkeley Methodist United Church, 1710 Carleton Street, Berkeley, CA 94703 at 2 p.m. on Aug. 7.