Peter Yamazaki, 94, passed away peacefully in his sleep at The Forest Hill Manor skilled nursing facility in Pacific Grove on Sunday morning with family present. Born Peter Tamio Yamazaki to Rev. John Misao and Mary Tsune Yamazaki in Los Angeles, California, he graduated from Los Angeles High School and the University of California at Los Angeles. As early as age 14, Peter and his older brother James worked summers doing farm work in Watsonville and in the Central and Imperial Valleys. At the outbreak of the U.S. involvement in WWII, he was attending law school at The University of Southern California. Peter quit graduate school and...
Peter Yamazaki, 94, passed away peacefully in his sleep at The Forest Hill Manor skilled nursing facility in Pacific Grove on Sunday morning with family present.
Born Peter Tamio Yamazaki to Rev. John Misao and Mary Tsune Yamazaki in Los Angeles, California, he graduated from Los Angeles High School and the University of California at Los Angeles. As early as age 14, Peter and his older brother James worked summers doing farm work in Watsonville and in the Central and Imperial Valleys. At the outbreak of the U.S. involvement in WWII, he was attending law school at The University of Southern California. Peter quit graduate school and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He attended Officer's Candidate School while he was assigned to the administrative unit of the Military Intelligence Service at Fort Snelling, MN. He served as a Second Lieutenant in Company C, and later in the occupational forces under General MacArthur in Japan after the end of the war. When he returned to Los Angeles in 1950 with his wife Joy and their first three children, he worked in the produce business. He ended his forty-year career in life insurance as a Certified Life Underwriter (CLU) and district manager for The Equitable.
Both native-Californians, Peter and Joy raised their six children in Los Angeles and Huntington Beach. They moved to Pacific Grove in 1989 on the day of the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Despite this rocky beginning, Peter and Joy made many new friends and spent many happy years enjoying the beauty and tranquility of the Monterey Peninsula. Joy, his beloved spouse of 54 years, predeceased him in death in 2001.
An avid golfer for most of his adult life, Peter was a member of the Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa, and later, Rancho Canada Golf Club in Carmel Valley, but he often said that his favorite course was Pebble Beach. He golfed several times a week into his eighties, but reluctantly retired from the game because of a rotator cuff injury. Peter was a resident of Pacific Grove for 23 years.
Peter is survived by his son, John Gregory of Pacific Grove, and daughters Mary Elizabeth of Doha, Qatar, Patricia Joy of Huntington Beach, Deborah Kay of Pacific Grove, Andrea Louise (Kevin) Williamson of Belmont; grandson, Ian Peter Yamazaki Williamson of Belmont; brother, Dr. James N. (Aki) Yamazaki of White Salmon, WA; and many nieces, nephews, and other relatives. He was preceded in death by his wife, Joy, his daughter, Barbara Anne, his brother, John H. M. Yamazaki (Fumi), and his sister, Louise Hanako Yamazaki.
Visitation will be held on Monday, May 14th, from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at The Paul Mortuary, 390 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove. Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday, May 15th at 1:00 p.m. at St. Mary's By-the-Sea, Central Avenue and 12th, Pacific Grove. There will be a private inurnment at The Monterey City Cemetery in June.