Teruko Morinaka passed away suddenly, but gently in her home in Sacramento on Tuesday, December 28, 2021. She was born in Toledo, Ohio, but her parents moved back to Hiroshima, Japan before WWII, taking their 6 children with them. Teruko returned to the United States at the age of 18 and married Toshio Sakoi of Lodi, Calif., and had two children. They divorced after 20+ years of marriage.
Teruko’s talents included cooking and sewing, and worked in those fields for most of her early life. She also owned and operated Nissei Delicatessen in Lodi.
After moving to Los Angeles in the late 1970’s, Teruko met and married Donald Morinaka. She worked as an apartment manager and continued that until she retired in the early 1990’s.
Don and Teruko enjoyed traveling especially to Japan to visit relatives and sightsee. Teruko’s other interests were in the arts and crafts. She spent most of her last several years working on her card crafts and diamond art paintings.
Teruko was very active in the North America A-Bomb Survivors non-profit group and was instrumental in getting legislation passed pertaining to medical benefits for bomb survivors living in the United States. She lost two of her older sisters in the atomic bomb.
Teruko is survived by her son, Alan Sakoi (Kelly, daughter-in-law); daughter, Sharon Iida; along with three grandchildren, Bryan Iida, Kristen Iida, and Joseph Sakoi, and two great-grandchildren, James Iida and Andie Wilson.