February 10, 1931 — December 10, 2021
Leo Ryo Hayashi passed away, peacefully, in his sleep at the age of 90 on December 10, 2021. A private interment service was held at Evergreen Cemetery on January 14, 2022, presided over by Rimban William Briones of L.A. Hompa Hongwanji.
Leo was born in Haraichi Machi in Saitama Prefecture and was raised by his uncle in Watari Machi in Sendai Prefecture until he was 10. At the age of 13 he was sent to Manchuria with Japan’s Boy Army. He came to the United States at the age of 16 with his 2 older sisters where he met his parents for the first time since he was an infant.
In his early 30s he became a real estate broker with his base office in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles and spent the next 60 years buying and selling properties for Japanese and local investors and managing their properties and other interests in the States. In the process he became a prosperous property investor himself. At the age of 40 he completed a bachelors degree in business administration in order to set a good example for his children.
He is survived by his wife, June; his two older sisters, Marie and Naomi; 4 surviving children (Ray, Don, Susan and Kei); and 7 grandchildren, Hiromasa, Niichi, Kysa, Manami, Remi, Emiko and Shogo.