April 26, 1941 – March 11, 2024
Yoshi Matsushima passed away after a long stay in a memory care unit. He was born in Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan to his Japanese father and Hawaiian mother. His mother, Shizuko, sister, Fumi, and Yoshi moved to Honolulu in 1957. Their father died in the war in Manchuria. He left Hawaii when he was drafted into the Army. Becoming a psych tech in the Army helped him decide upon a career. He received a Master of Social Work from California State University, Sacramento in 1973. From 1973 to 1985, he was a Psychiatric Social Worker for the California State Department of Mental Health. In 1985, he started working as a Supervising Psychiatric Social Worker at Coastal Asian Pacific Mental Health Center in Gardena. In 1989, he became the Director of the mental health center until he retired from the County in 2001.
Eager to continue providing social work services, he was a part-time clinical consultant at the Cambodian Association of America in Long Beach. He was also a part-time clinical supervisor at the Little Tokyo Service Center in Los Angeles until he had a stroke in Japan in the fall of 2009.
In 1980, he met Diana Sayler at a mutual friend ‘s birthday party in Los Angeles. It was a match made at first sight, they married less than two years later in 1982.
Yoshi is survived by his beloved and devoted wife, Diana; two amazing sons, Yuki (Cristina), Kazu (Meg); three delightful grandchildren; as well as his sister, cousins in Hawaii, and many good friends, including in-laws. Anyone wishing to honor Yoshi may make donations to Little Tokyo Service Center or the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
www.fukuimortuary.com (213) 626-0441