Obituary of Tamotsu TAKENAKA

Tamotsu Takenaka passed away peacefully on Friday, April 15, 2016 at the age of 85 years. Tam was born in Woodfibre, BC on October 12, 1930. His family moved to New Denver, BC when Tam was 12 years old. Tam was a good athlete and early in his life played a lot of baseball. He met his best friend and love of his life Jolene Mutsuko Takeyasu at a baseball tournament in Lethbridge when he was 21 years old. Tam and Jolene enjoyed 58 years of marriage together until Jolene’s passing in January 2013. In 1958, Tam and Jolene moved to Calgary where Tam obtained his post-secondary education and started his 32 year drafting career with Imperial Oil. After retiring from Imperial Oil as manager of the drafting department at the age of 55 years, Tam and Jolene enjoyed travelling, frequenting the casino and spending time with their family. They were their daughters and grandsons biggest fans, especially when it came to watching their daughters curl and their grandsons play hockey. Tam could always be found golfing at Bearspaw, curling at the Calgary Winter Club or at the blackjack table. Tam will be remembered as a loving and generous father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend by those who survive him. He will be missed by all those who came to know his dry sense of humour and his two word zingers. Tam is survived by his daughters Lisa (Blair) McLean, Shana (Stuart) Woodhouse, his cherished grandsons Ryan and Kurtis Woodhouse and his brother Mamo (Gayle). In honour of Tam’s wishes, a private family service will be held at a later date and he will be interred at Queen’s Park Mausoleum. If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Kidney Foundation of Canada, 6007 – 1A Street S.W., Calgary, AB T2H 0G5 Telephone: (403) 255-6108, www.kidney.ca. On behalf of Tam, the family would like to thank the doctors, nurses and support staff of the ER, ICU and Units 27 and 37 at the Foothills Medical Centre for their care and compassion. We would also like to thank the staff at the Northwest Calgary Hemodialysis clinic for their care of Tam over the last several years.