SHIRO, MASAO died peacefully on October 22nd, 2021 at the age of 59 with his beloved girlfriend of 26 years, Karen Desouza and his mother, Chizuko Shiro at his side in Corte Madera, CA where he was born on September 23, 1962.

Michael is survived by his best friend Karen, mother Chizuko, his brother Richard and his sister-in-law Traci, and his niece and nephew, Kimiko and Kenji.

Michael grew up in Corte Madera where he graduated from Redwood High School in 1980. It was during his sophomore year, that he met a close group of friends that had the same interest in skateboarding and surfing.

Those friendships and a life-long passion for surfing continued until his final days.

He graduated from U.C. Berkeley’s School of Business in 1985 and was recruited from college to work for KPMG Peat Marwick from 1985-1989 where he was promoted to Manager and earned his C.P.A. license.

It was in 1989 that Michael moved into the property in San Francisco that would become his own house 7 years later due to the kindness of his landlord who later became his real estate partner for whom he was forever grateful to.

While living in San Francisco, Michael soon realized the best way to get around town was on vintage motorcycles which he rode and collected for the rest of his life. Among his favorite vehicles that he owned were his 1967 Camaro SS, 1961 Porsche 356B, 1950 Triumph Thunderbird, 1956 Norton Dominator, and his 1949 Harley EL.

Between surfing at Ocean Beach in S.F. and working in his garage, Michael was also very interested in creating art through paintings and drawings. This is the one area in his life he felt he had much more to give to if time had permitted.

From 1990 – 2021, Michael worked for ten or more years each as a Controller at 3 non-profit organizations, that addressed civil rights issues through the legal system and community activism and through the art of filmmaking. It was while working at these organizations that he met the love of his life, Karen Desouza.

Michael was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer in September 2020. In November Michael went on his last surf trip with Karen to a secret surf spot in Northern California where he successfully rode some of the biggest waves of his life.

After five rounds of chemotherapy, symptoms eventually became debilitating to the point that he could no longer live at his home in San Francisco by May of 2021. He moved in to his beloved Karen’s home in Alameda until symptoms progressed further and he became paralyzed from the waist down. In August Michael was placed under hospice care at his parents? house in Corte Madera where Karen and Chizuko continued to lovingly take care of Michael until he passed quietly at the home where he was born.