Masako Hane's Obituary
Masako Hane
(1929 – 2024)
Masako Hane was born on January 24, 1929 in San Jose, California. She was the fifth of eight children of Kijiro and Kuniyo Inamasu. Masako was a student at San Jose High School in 1942, when her family was forced to relocate to Pomona Assembly Center and then to Heart Mountain Internment Camp, in Wyoming. Following the end of the war in 1945, Masako returned to California and attended San Jose State College. She received an A.A. degree in business and began working in the San Jose State registrar’s office.
She married Satoshi Hane of Hollister, California in San Jose on December 14, 1952. They settled in Millbrae to raise their five children, Gayle, Diane, Marianne, Robert, and Mark. While caring for her children, Masako also worked as a medical transcriptionist at a private doctor’s office and then at Kaiser Hospital in South San Francisco. She worked for about 20 years and retired in 1998. She came out of retirement to work part-time in a private doctor’s office and truly retired at the age of 80.
After retirement she remained active traveling, taking Japanese folk and ballroom dancing, doing Japanese flower arrangement, reading mystery novels, listening to classical music, and going out to lunch with friends. She also remained active by taking weekly Japanese language classes at the San Mateo Japanese American Community Center, hosting large family gatherings, and spending time with her five beloved grandchildren.
Masako resided in Millbrae until December 2021, when she moved to Kimochi San Mateo Residential Care. Masako passed away peacefully in her sleep on September 17, 2024 at the age of 95 at Kimochi.
Masako was preceded in death by her parents, husband Satoshi Hane, daughter Gayle Hane-Wong, and siblings Hatsuki Yamada, Kazuo Inamasu, Mitsuka Fukuyama, Kikuye Kimura, and Amy Nagareda. Survived by sisters Faye Kishimura (Robert) and Sachiko Nakasora (Wes). Beloved mother-in-law to Craig Wong and mother to Diane Matsumoto (David), Marianne Hane (Frank Oaks), Robert Hane (Janet), and Mark Hane (Yiyu Yang). Loving Grandma to Reed, David, Peter, Keilee, and Ken. Proud Auntie to many nieces and nephews.
A private family service will be held at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Kimochi Inc., 453 N. San Mateo Dr., San Mateo, CA 94401, the San Mateo Buddhist Temple, 2 S. Claremont St., San Mateo, CA 94401, or the San Mateo Japanese American Community Center, 415 S. Claremont St., San Mateo, CA 94401.
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