3/31/28 - 4/3/16
Yoshio Aoki died peacefully on Sunday, April 3rd, surrounded by his family, at his home in Seattle, following a traumatic fall last June and a stroke on the morning of his 88th birthday.
Yosh is survived by his beloved wife, Mary Masako Suzuki Aoki; his children, Julie Mia Aoki (Steven) Nardi, Peter Kai (Lanell) Aoki, and Ann Naomi Aoki (William) Becker; his granchildren, Kai Niko Aoki, Mari Tiara Aoki, and Liam Yoshio Becker; and his brother, Nobuo Aoki of Salt Lake City, UT.
Yosh was born a US citizen on March 31st, 1928, in Seattle, WA, to Sasuke Aoki and Hideko Kubota, first generation immigrants from Japan.
He was only 11 when he lost his father to cancer.
Yosh grew up in the Central Area of Seattle at East Fir St and 14th Ave, and attended Pacific School and Washington Junior High.
At age 14, after entering Garfield High School as a freshman, Yosh and his five siblings and widowed mother were forcibly evacuated from their home during WWII solely due to their Japanese ancestry.
They were first sent to live in horse stalls on the Puyallup Fairgrounds and then to the Minidoka War Relocation Camp in Hunt, Idaho, for the next 3.5 years.
Yosh's high school education occurred in Minidoka and he graduated from the camp's high school in 1945 prior to his family's release from camp at the end of the war.
From camp, Yosh was awarded a university scholarship in art per his prodigious talent. However, due to his mother's concern that art was not a serious pursuit, Yosh pursued his second passion of airplanes.
Yosh initially attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where he began his studies in aeronautical engineering under T. Wilson, the future head of the Boeing Company.
At Iowa State, Yosh was not allowed to live in their university dorms. Instead, he was allowed in their "international house", where students from foreign countries were housed.
Yosh transferred to the University of Washington once persons of Japanese descent were allowed to return to the Pacific coast and obtained his Master's Degree in Aeronautical Engineering there.
Yosh began his 41 year career with the Boeing Company in 1950.
Yosh was a pacifist and boldly required of his employer that his assignments remain solely in the commercial division of the company and not be for defense projects.
At Yosh's retirement party, T. Wilson honored him by stating that if it were not for Yosh's Japanese ancestry, Yosh would have ascended to the position that he once held.
Yosh met Mary Masako Suzuki, who was the center of his being, in 1947 and they married in 1952. They raised their children in North Capitol Hill in Seattle facing the Olympic Mountains.
Yosh committed himself to his family and was an active community servant.
In 1970, Yosh was elected president of the Central Area School Council, a division of the Seattle Public School Board. As head of the CASC, he commit himself to racial equality and education. Weekday mornings prior to his work at Boeing, Yosh would walk the halls and the perimeter of Garfield High School, to assure a safe environment for the community there. Nights were regularly spent with the PTA and African American community leaders, attempting to find ways to improve students' lives.
In his spare time, Yosh was known for helping children with their homework, Mary with housework, and was responsible for the extensive remodel of their home which appeared several times in Sunset Magazine.
Yosh and Mary loved being together and eating and traveling and the arts. They regularly traveled to San Francisco (where they were married), and Hawaii, and annual trips to numerous countries abroad. His first trip to Japan was at the age of 56 with Mary.
Yosh was an advocate for human rights, a feminist, and a steadfast liberal. He commit himself wholly to his family and grandchildren. And, primarily, to the care of his granddaughter, Mari. He was selfless in his devotion.
Words used to describe him are quiet, gentle, kind, decent, noble, fair.
In his declining health, nurses stated, 'where can a girl find a man like Yosh?'
He was an exceptional human being.
A memorial gathering will be held on Sunday, May 1st, 2016, at the Mirabella:
116 Fairview Ave N
Seattle, WA
98109
The doors will open on the 10th floor at 3:30 PM and a small service will begin at 4:00 PM.
The family is eternally grateful to all caregivers who graced him with their kindness and devotion.
Donations in Yosh’s name can be made on behalf of the ACT study (Adult Changes in Thought) of the University of Washington and Group Health Cooperative:
Group Health Research Institute Geriatric Research Fund Group Health Foundation
320 Westlake Ave N Suite 100
Seattle, WA 98109