Percy Hifumi Tsukamoto
January 23, 1923 – March 11, 2019
On Monday, March 11, 2019, Percy Hifumi Tsukamoto of Montebello, CA, loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 96 while a resident of the Hollenbeck Palms SNF in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA.
Percy was born on January 23, 1923 in Sacramento, California to George Etsuzo and Sawayo (Watanabe) Tsukamoto. After leaving the Manzanar Internment Camp, he was part of the post WWII US Army Allied Occupation Force in Kyoto, Japan. On August 6, 1950, he married Janet Chiyeko Abe. They raised five children; two daughters, Marie and Ann, and three sons, John, Peter and Mark.
He was a foreman at the Crown Coach Corporation in Los Angeles for 35 years before retiring in 1984. Crown Coach was the company that built the familiar school buses and fire trucks used extensively in So Cal.
Percy was a whiz at fixing anything mechanical and liked to repair cars and build model train sets. Later in retirement he became a skilled woodworker and made many wonderful toys for the grandkids as well as elegant household wooden items. Percy was a quiet man of few words but he was playful and happy with the grandkids and always had treats and a wonderful smile for them.
Percy was preceded in death by his father, George Etsuzo, his mother, Sawayo, and his daughter, Marie. He is survived by his wife, Janet, his four children and their spouses, Ann & Irv, John & Karleen, Peter & Jane Fay and Mark & Jane Marie, Marie’s husband, Michael, his brother Benjamin, his sister Marjorie, nine grandchildren; Stephanie, Diana, Tiffany, Michelle, Krystina, Nicolette, Rachel, James and Kimberly, one great-grandchild, Ava and several nieces and nephews.
A private funeral service was held on Friday, March 22nd, 2019 at St. Francis Xavier Church (Japanese Catholic Center) in Los Angeles.
Donations can be made to the Good Samaritan Hospital Heart and Vascular Center
https://www.goodsam.org/Support-Us/Donations.aspx