Raymond Ichiro Tomooka
September 1, 1941 – December 5, 2020
Raymond Ichiro Tomooka born September 1, 1941 passed away on Saturday December 5, 2020 at the age of 79. Son of Masataka and Mitsuye, he was born in Santa Maria. He had four younger siblings, his twin brother Roy, Lee, Carol, and Barbara. After turning one, he spent the next four years of his life in the Gila River Internment Camp. After the war, his family started over in Arizona. He graduated from Peoria High School in 1959 where he was a varsity athlete and ASB president. He studied industrial engineering at Arizona State University and graduated in 1964. He worked for 30 years at ALCOA before retiring from his position as financial controller. He married Charlotte Kayoko Shimoda in 1968 and had two children, Lance and Leigh Ann and four grandchildren, Tyler, Zachary, Emi, and Nikki.
Ray received a life-saving lung transplant at UCLA in 2011. He continued to face related complications, always with his trademark positive attitude. In the ten years after his lung transplant, he golfed Pebble Beach, attended Lakers and Chargers games, learned to play the ukulele, traveled to Hawaii four more times, and celebrated his 50-year wedding anniversary.
He was truly a “drop of golden sun” and we will miss his guidance and his presence.
In lieu of flowers, a charitable contribution to OCBC or the UCLA Heart and Lung Transplant Team would be appreciated. Donations to UCLA can be made by going to giving.ucla.edu/tomooka. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic funeral services will be postponed to a later date. Condolences may be left by going to https://www.fukuimortuary.com/ (213) 626-0441