Sam Tsunehiko Kiguchi
April 12, 1920 - February 22, 2015
Sam T. Kiguchi, as he always signed his name, passed away peacefully in his sleep at the Ventura home where he lived with Mary, his loving wife of nearly 64 years. His mind was active and engaged up to the last hours before his body finally gave out. His strong spirit and zest for life will live on in our hearts and minds.
Sam was known for his intelligence, integrity, and interest in helping others achieve high goals, as well as bow ties and sometimes painfully corny jokes. He loved spending time with his big family, his engineering career, woodworking, and fishing. He approached everything with an analytical attitude and the goal of doing things the right way, the best way, the first time.
The second of six children, Sam was born April 12, 1920 in Gillette Wyoming. His father Haruzo was an adventurous Japanese immigrant who brought his wife Misao to the U.S. as a picture bride. The family lived in Wyoming, Colorado, and Los Angeles, with a brief stint in the Granada Relocation Center ("Amache") where they were interned during World War II. Sam played a strong role in the family, from role model to jokester.
Sam graduated from John H. Francis Polytechnic Senior High School in L.A. He played football and was a sports photographer. He also studied judo. He began his college career at UCLA where he majored in art. The reason for that choice of major remains a mystery, and that career path was mercifully cut short with the onset of World War II and the family relocation to Amache. Sam didn't stay in camp long, though, accepting an offer to work on a farm for the duration of the war. He enjoyed riding horses and even sang in the saddle.
After the war, Sam earned a chemical engineering degree in 1945 at the University of Tulsa. He went on to earn an M.S. in chemical engineering in 1950 at the University of Texas at Austin. His thesis was titled "Heat Transfer Coefficients For Dimethoxy-Tetraethylene Glycol," the meaning of which remains another unsolved mystery. Sam developed an abiding love for Texas that he would try to share with his future family, with only partial success. "The Eyes of Texas" became his rallying song.
Sam began his professional career in Alhambra, CA at C.F. Braun & Co., which was the Rolls Royce of chemical engineering for that period. He married the beautiful, intelligent, and gracious Mary Hideko Kumagai in 1951. After the birth of their son, Stafford, in 1952, they moved to the Upper Hastings Ranch neighborhood of Pasadena. Sam and the many other young engineers in the neighborhood were leaders in creating and promoting the elaborate, technical, and now-famous neighborhood Christmas displays. Three other children were born in the Pasadena years - Laurie, Kim, and Jamie - and the family was complete.
While at Braun, Sam developed a patent for polymer desolventizer of the rotary wiped falling film type. He became a leader in the design and operation of petrochemical refineries and plastic polymer production, traveling the world to supervise and troubleshoot operations at the plants he designed. Sam also became a speedy master of tying bow ties.
The family relocated to Westport, Connecticut in 1967 when Sam accepted an offer from Crawford & Russell, Inc., where he would become Vice-President - Technical. The family loved the Connecticut culture and environment, but the work didn’t offer the challenges Sam sought. Four years later, Sam returned to C.F. Braun, moving his family to Newport Beach. It was here that Sam bought a standard transmission Ford Pinto as a commuter car and taught his girls to drive it. Little did he realize the tendency for the model's fuel tank to be punctured in a rear-end collision and erupt in flames would land it on lists of worst cars of all time. Luckily, the family survived the Pinto.
Texas called in 1978 in the form of an offer from the engineering firm of Brown & Root. Sam and Mary lived in Missouri City, a suburb of Houston, for eight years before retiring to their long-held mountain home in Lake Arrowhead, CA in 1986. Although Sam loved the beach, he knew his wife Mary loved the mountains, and he loved knowing she was happy there.
Sam couldn’t stay retired for long. Mentally and physically strong after some rest and relaxation, he was recruited out of retirement to consult for Braun and then Brown & Root after a merger. Finally, at age 70, Sam retired for good to enjoy life in Lake Arrowhead and visits from his five grandsons. In 2006, when the wildfires and snow became too much, Sam and Mary moved to Ventura to be close to their daughter Jamie.
Throughout his life, Sam made breakthroughs in both the professional and personal realms. He relished challenges and strived to make his mark on the world. He fought racism and discrimination by earning respect and prestige for his engineering work. He and Mary showed their belief in themselves by choosing to live in mainstream American communities where they were the only Japanese-American family. He became a skilled craftsman with a garage workshop outfitted with every type of specialty woodworking tool imaginable, keeping hardware and lumber stores in business wherever he lived. He designed and built furniture for his children and extended family, and fixed virtually any kind of home, car, or homework problem. One of his last major projects was a full-size, professional quality, folding craps table for Jamie to use when hosting gambling parties.
Eventually, though, Sam's body started giving out. He fought each malady and condition with determination. He researched medical specialists thoroughly, choosing to see only those who met his rigorous standards for professional expertise, and demonstrating a will to live that defied the odds several times. His commitment to his wife and family was evident up to his final hours.
Sam was preceded in death by his sister Sue Edwards and brother Shigetsu (Sets, deceased). He is survived by Mary - his loving and devoted wife of near 64 years, his children Stafford (Amy), Laurie (Stephen Reed), Kim Distaso (John), and Jamie (Kim Porter) as well as five grandsons - Travis Distaso, Sam Distaso (Imogen), Casey Distaso plus Brooks and Connor Reed. He is also survived by his brother Mark (Margie), sisters Masako Miyake (Shimpei, deceased) and Fumi Nakamura (Ty, deceased), sister-in-law Kiyoka Kurumada (Tom, deceased), numerous nephews, nieces, grandnephews, grandnieces, great-grandnephews, and great grandnieces. He touched all he met with his intelligence, motivation, and witty jokes. Sam will be missed by all.
Arrangements are under the direction of the JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICE, Ventura.