James Hosaki

James Rikyo Hosaki passed away peacefully at home with his family by his side on February 3, 2016 after a lengthy illness. He was born July 10, 1935 in Fillmore, CA, the 7th of 8 children and was a life-long resident of Ventura county.
He attended school in Fillmore prior to being interned to Gila Bend Relocation Camp, AZ in 1942. His family returned to Ventura county in 1945 settling in Oxnard where he completed his schooling. Jim graduated from Oxnard High School in 1953. He then attended Ventura College and received his Associates in Arts degree in 1955. He continued his education at Cal State Northridge but was drafted into the United States Army. He was sent to Korea and proudly served his country for two years.
Jim's work career was spent farming in some capacity. First farming with his brothers, eventually moving on to work for Nishimori Farms for 19 years. He then moved away from the farm and transitioned into a vegetable seeds salesman in the latter part of his life, retiring in this position in 2012.
Sports was his first true love. In his early school years he enjoyed playing tennis, baseball and basketball. In 1953, while attending Oxnard High School he was named the "Oxnard Press-Courier" MVP in Tennis, then 2 years later he was MVP of his Ventura College team. Jim continued playing Tennis most of his life, his love for the game was then passed on to his 3 kids. Jim could always be seen during the summer after work playing tennis with his kids at the Fremont Jr. High tennis courts. In his early 20's he became an avid bowler. Jim quickly learned how to throw a lot of strikes and had a few perfect 300 games. On the lanes is where he met and teamed up with his eventual wife, Margaret. In his early 30's he picked up golf with his farming friends(Tsug, Frank & Robert Hiji), after work they would rush over to Saticoy golf course and get in as many holes as they could before dark. Jim, Tsug, Frank, Robert & Yuzo Matsutsuyu were just a few of the founding members of the Oxnard Nisei Golf Club. Jim was a member for over 40 years, he retired from the club in 2015 due to his illness.
In his later years he became passionate about cooking and baking. There isn't a friend or family member who hasn't had his legendary strawberry pie, pistachio cake, cookies or chocolate toffee. Jim loved baking, but loved even more when friends or family members would rave about how good his desserts were. Jim loved making people happy and in turn that made him happy.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret of 52 years, three children, Donna (Brian) Henggeler, Sharon Hosaki, Jimmy (Mickii) Hosaki and granddaughter Chelsea Griffin; sisters Miyeko Furuta and Helen Mattick of Los Angeles; sisters-in-law Nobi Hosaki, Ernestine Hosaki and Sumi Hosaki and many loving nieces, nephews and extended family.
Jim was predeceased by his parents Kashichi and Sekiyo Hosaki, sisters Teruko Anraku, Yukiko Sugiyama and brothers Frank, Butch and Joe.
We would like to give a sincere thank you to all of his caregivers in particular Drs. Goba, Wilgus, Bhatia, Mummaneni and Singh, nurse Claudia Sandle, the many nurses at St. John's Hospital, the Palliative Care Team and St. John's Foundation.
Memorial service will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, February 13, 2016 at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 1800 South "C" Street, Oxnard, CA.