Tokio “Tok” Otsuka died Feb. 3, 2005, while working at his farm on Vashon. He was doing what he loved to do. He was 81 years old.

Mr. Otsuka was born March 8, 1923, on Vashon.

He graduated from Vashon High School in 1941.

He left the Island and was interned during WWII with his family and many Japanese Americans in Pinedale, Calif., Tule Lake, Calif., and Heart Mountain, Wy.

While interned, Mr. Otsuka volunteered and served his country in the famed 442nd Regiment Combat Team, facing combat in France.

He joined the Merchant Marines following WWII and was a commercial pilot. He returned to the family farm on Vashon, and during the last 45 years, Tok earned a reputation farming “Otsuka” strawberries, sweet corn, and Christmas trees.

Mr. Otsuka shaped the landscape of Vashon, working as a concrete contractor for many years.

Friends and family say he touched the lives of many generations of Vashon Island residents and will be dearly missed.

Survivors include his wife of

39 years, Teruko “Terry”; daughter Shari and her husband Kenneth of Mill Creek, Wash.; son Steven of Vashon; daughter Tricia of Seattle; sister Shirley Kameda and brother-in-law Terry of Seattle; grandsons Robert Otsuka and Nathan Sam; and several nieces and nephews.

Mr. Otsuka was a loving

husband and father and a popular, life-long resident of the Vashon Island.

A graveside service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Vashon Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to the Vashon Medic One, the American Cancer Society, Vashon VFW or a charity of one’s choice.