November 12, 1919 — October 3, 2023
Reverend Ensei H. Nekoda, a retired Buddhist minister, passed away on October 3, 2023, at the age of 103 in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Ensei was born in Vancouver, Canada on November 12, 1919. During WWII, he was evacuated to Kaslo and Slocan in British Columbia, where he worked as a carpenter and elementary school principal. Unable to return to Vancouver after the war, Ensei moved to Toronto. He served as minister-assistant at the Toronto Buddhist Church and was one of the founding fathers of the Toronto Buddhist Society.
After graduating from Ryukoku University in Japan and being ordained as a Buddhist minister, Ensei returned to Canada. He was a resident minister at the Raymond Buddhist Church from 1952 to 1960 and served as bilingual circuit minister of the District of Alberta for six churches. He then became executive secretary of the Buddhist Churches of Canada (BCC), commuting between seven churches.
While on sabbatical, Ensei conducted graduate research at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif. and attended the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) Study Center. In 1963, Ensei married Masako Deguchi. He served as national director of the BCA Sunday School Department for 13 years in San Francisco before moving to Penryn to become resident minister of Placer Buddhist Church in 1976.
After 40 years of diligent service to BCC and BCA, Ensei retired in 1990 and he and Masako moved to Los Angeles. After Masako passed away in 2005, Ensei moved to Sunnyvale in 2014. He regularly attended Mountain View Buddhist Temple, where he was honored for his 100th birthday in 2019. Ensei impacted countless lives through his lifelong dedication to Buddhist teachings and service to his community. He is survived by his sister, Beth Kubokawa (Charles); and his brother, Joe Nekoda (Yoko). A funeral service will be held at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple on Thursday, November 2, at 2 p.m. Please email ehnservice@outlook.com for a link to the livestream.