My Dad, Kazuma Nagai, died at his home in Alameda, California on Thursday, April 21, 2011 after a long battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. His past six months in Alameda brought him back home, in a sense. He was born on July 16, 1918 in Oakland, California – the oldest child of Uhei and Koto Nagai. Dad’s name means “first horse,” which refers to his birth as the first son in the Year of the Horse. In Japanese culture, the Year of the Horse is supposed to be very auspicious for sons. Dad’s siblings talk about the fact that he was always dapper and well-dressed as a young man – and a bit of a perfectionist. Perhaps it was fitting that he studied with a well-known perfectionist at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena – Ansel Adams. Dad said his standards were nothing compared to Ansel Adams who spent hours and hours waiting for the right light. After World War II began, Dad’s family was evacuated to the Tanforan Race Track and later to the internment camp in Topaz, Utah. Dad said it was really odd that his family was under armed guard when their train passed through Salt Lake City, but that local Japanese-Americans were able to come to the station to greet the train. Mom and Dad met after they had left camp (Mom was in Gila River, Arizona) for Chicago. They married on May 27, 1944. Mom says, “I thought he was such a good looking guy!” Which he was. They adopted me in early 1956 when we all lived in a Nagai family compound at 3818 West Washington near Garfield Park – a three flat building with a garden apartment. Mom and Dad then built a home and moved to the suburbs where we lived for 25 years, with Grandma Suzuki. (I’ve always thought my dad was a saint for living 35 years with his mother-in-law.) Dad was a man of all skills from carpentry to welding, gardening to fly fishing (and fly tying which he taught me), golfing to cooking. He actually read his instruction manuals and kept almost all of the original packaging for his electronics. You can see where we are distinctly different! Mom and Dad retired and moved to California and finally settled in Seattle where they lived until October 2010. Elli and I drove Mom and Dad to California in an RV and as soon as we arrived in the Bay Area, Dad began reminiscing about growing up in Oakland – how he swam in the Alameda Estuary as a boy, which was pretty polluted even then! As Mom and Dad settled into life at Waters Edge Assisted Living Community, Dad was always looking after Mom, even as his health failed – making sure she made it to meals on time and changed her sheets every week. During his March hospitalization, his question was always, “Is Mom OK?” Dad had a very specific idea of how he wanted his life – from foods to home health aides (NOT!) to staying in his own bed and not a hospital bed as he received hospice care. He was never bed-ridden and was able to get in and out of bed until the day he died. Dad was able to live the end of life on his own terms, for which I’m grateful. The week before he died Elli and Elli’s fiancé Steve, Kai and Duffy and my new grandbaby Harper CoCo, and Jan and I gathered to visit with Dad and Mom. Elli and Steve video recorded Dad greeting his great granddaughter, Harper, and formally welcoming Steve into the family. As Jan says, “He was a kind, practical, plain-speaking, no-nonsense man.” Dad is survived by his wife of 66 years, Helen, his daughter Tomi of San Francisco, his grandchildren Elli of Auckland, New Zealand and Kai of Brooklyn, New York, and his great-granddaughter, Harper CoCo of Brooklyn, New York. He is also survived by his sister Hideno (Dennie) of Chicago, Illinois and his sister Ayako (Alice AY) of San Jose, California. Dad knew that Steve is a Green entrepreneur (“A green guy”). On the last morning of his life he told Elli that Steve should "plant lots of trees.” To honor Dad’s life we are encouraging anyone who is moved by his passing to plant a tree or support an organization that plants trees. You can donate to Friends of the Urban Forest http://www.fuf.net/ which plants trees all over San Francisco. We are grateful for our time together as a family these past two weeks. and for the loving embrace of our extended family, friends and community.