ODA, KAZUKO, age 92, passed away peacefully in her sleep at home in Berkeley, Calif. on Friday, March 4, 2011.

She is survived by her sister Teruko Inouye; brother Nike (Grace) Mitsui; sons, Gary (Judy) Oda, Dennis Oda, Edward (Lois) Oda; daughters Janet (Tom) Sonoda, Caroline (Lester) Ouchida; grandchildren, Russell (Hsiao-Wei) Ouchida, Joanne (David) Sonoda-Yu, Ryan Ouchida, Alison Sonoda, Colleen Oda, Roger (Valerie) Oda, Michael (Mariel) Sonoda, Kevin Oda, Lindsay Oda; great-grandchildren Jordan Yu and Kara Yu. She was preceded in death by husband Masami “Sam” Oda by almost exactly one year.

In 1945, Kazuko and Sam and four of their children relocated from the Topaz, Utah Japanese American interment camp to Berkeley. They raised their family in the same house built for the Oda Family in 1922. She retired as Thousand Oaks Elementary School cook in Berkeley, Calif. She was a member of the Berkeley Buddhist Temple and Contra Costa JACL.

Kazuko was a gentle, kind, empathetic and generous person who will be missed by all.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple, 2121 Channing Way, Berkeley, Calif.