Hisao was born March 10, 1908 in Kobe, Japan, to Shiro and Kane Inouye. He moved to Los Angeles at age ten, and later attended Polytechnic High School, where he finished a four-year program in three years and was admitted to the California Scholastic Federation. He attended USC but left after one year due to health reasons. He worked for his uncle at S. Ishimitsu & Co., Ltd., located in the Little Tokyo district of L.A., and ultimately formed a branch office of the wholesale food import business in San Francisco. He had to close the San Francisco office shortly after Dec. 7, 1941.

The FBI took him in for questioning in January 1942, separating him from his mother, his wife and his children. While detained by the DOJ at Fort Lincoln, N.D., from 2/42 to 9/42, he served as interpreter for the officer-in-charge. Between 9/42 and 1/44, he was interned in Camp Livingston, La. and in Santa Fe, N.M. In 1/44 he was moved to the internment camp at Crystal City, Texas, where his family joined him from Topaz, Utah. While in Crystal City, he served as interpreter for Officer-in-Charge O’Rourke, and as spokesman for the internees. He was also one of several after-dinner newscasters, keeping the internees informed of current events without using a mike.

Shortly before his release from internment, he contacted a relative, the late Eddie Masao Matsuda of Los Angeles, regarding post-war employment. Eddie, then a partner of Modern Food Products in Denver, suggested he contact Wesley Oyama of MFP. Upon his return to San Francisco in April 1946, he joined MFP, and later became one of its partners. When MFP merged with Pacific Trading Company to form Japan Food Corporation, he became its secretary, retiring in 1974.

He also became very active in community affairs. He helped to organize the S.F. Japanese Chamber of Commerce. He was elected president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California in 1950. In the mid-1950s, he was active in the Parents Association of San Francisco Boy Scout Troop 12. In 1955, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

In 1961 he helped organize the Nikkei Lions Club, becoming its president in 1962, and was named Club Lion of the Year in 1968. In 1965 he served as the district chairman of the Lions Youth Community Activities Fund. In 1967, he helped organize the first San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival and was elected its general chairman. He became a director of Kimochi Inc., a senior services organization, and shortly thereafter was elected board chair in 1967. He led fundraising campaigns in 1977 to build Kimochi Home for aged Japanese, and in 1983 construction was completed. Kimochi Inc. honored him with a testimonial dinner at the Sheraton Palace Hotel on 6/7/85. Mayor Dianne Feinstein proclaimed the day Hisao Inouye Day. Congresswoman Sala Burton, State Senator Milton Marks, State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown expressed commendations at the dinner, and U.S. Senator Alan Cranston issued a letter of congratulations. Lion Maurice Perstein awarded Hisao a Life Membership in Lions International.

In November 1988, the government of Japan conferred on him the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette, in recognition of his years of outstanding work in promoting relations between Japan and the United States of America.

After celebrating his 100th birthday in March, Hisao passed away peacefully on Sept. 1, 2008. He is survived by Aiko, his devoted wife of 71 years; sons Akio and Tom (June); Akio’s children, Robert, Paul (Michele) and Keith (Kelly); Tom’s children, Sandra (Brian Shea), Kathy and Douglas (Akiko); Kathy’s daughter Lauren; and Paul and Michele’s daughters, Avery and Sutton. He is also survived by niece Sumi Niizawa and her daughters, Jill and Lynn; nephews Shogo (Grace) Yamamoto and their daughter Noreen (Vince) Sherry, Noreen and Vince’s daughter Anna; and first cousin once removed Sadahiko (Yuko) Akimoto and their son Tadashi, and by relatives of the Eddie Matsuda family. He is also survived by many relatives who reside in Japan, including nephew Teruo Ishimitsu.

A memorial service celebrating the life of Hisao Inouye will be held Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 at 2 p.m. in the Imperial Room, Hotel Kabuki, 1625 Post St. (at Laguna), San Francisco, CA 94115, (415) 922-3200 or (415) 614-5420.

Donations in memory of Hisao Inouye may be sent to any of the following: Kimochi Inc., 1715 Buchanan St., San Francisco, CA 94115; Pine United Methodist Church, 426 - 33rd Ave., San Francisco, CA 94121; or to the Japanese Benevolent Society, 1765 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94115. You are invited to share your comments and photographs at http://HisaoInouye.shutterfly.com.