Sakai Uyehara |
| Posted 2022-02-23 by mhenderson |
| Published by The Miner on Feb. 22, 2022 - Kingman, Arizona - Sakai Uyehara (AKA George Sakai Uyehara) was born on Feb. 20, 1937 in Paia, Maui, Territory of Hawaii. He passed away Feb. 2, 2022. He was 84. His father was Kame Uehara, and mother was Toyo Izu. In 1955 he graduated from Farrington High School in Kalihi, Oahu, Hawaii. He worked for one year for the Post Office in Honolulu, then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving four years and was honorably discharged. George then moved to California and found employment with the State Compensation Insurance Fund on March 6, 1963, starting in the Los Angeles office, then transferring to the Ventura office. In Ventura, he was active in the Ukulele Club of Ventura County for 15 years. In 1980 George joined the Big Brothers organization, mentoring 5 young boys for 10 years, at which time he was named “Big Brother of the Year” in his final year of volunteering. In 1997 he married his wife, Danna Cusson, and retired in 2000 after 37 wonderful years with State Fund. George and Danna then moved to Kingman, Arizona to help care for her father, Henry Cusson. He joined the Senior Center in Kingman, and soon was entertaining weekly at various nursing homes with his singing and ukulele playing, doing this to honor the memory of his father-in-law. Always a “helper,” George volunteered to “Stand Kettles,” ringing the bell for the Salvation Army for 10 years, always stationed at Smith’s grocery, rain, snow or shine. At age 84 George gave up his driver’s license and applied for a Travel ID, only to find the name “George” was not on his birth certificate, only the middle name of “Sakai,” hence the AKA designation. George attended the Seventh-day Adventist Church, singing hymns and playing the ukulele each sabbath service. He is now asleep in the Lord, awaiting the glorious second coming of Jesus. George’s remains will be at the National Cemetery at Punchbowl, Honolulu, Hawaii. George is predeceased by his parents, Kame and Toyo Uehara, brothers Robert (Merna), Thomas (Joyce), Kenneth (Ellen), Dennis (Carol), and a sister, Jean (Seichi). George is survived by his wife of 24 years, Danna Cusson Uyehara, of Kingman, Arizona; a step-son, Tommy Lee (Patti) Farris of Mountainburg, Arkansas; a step-daughter, Sharla Renee Derry of Greenwood, Arkansas; and a brother, Wallace, of Gardena, California. He is also survived by nieces Tracy Scott of Long Beach, California; Terry (Cesar) Ancheta of Chino Hills, California, and their children; and Sandy (Randy) Hew, of La Habra, California, and their children; as well as a sister-in-law, Merna Uehara of Oceanside, California, and many other nieces and nephews, and grand-nieces and grand-nephews, in California and Hawaii. |
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