Welcome to the memorial page for
Joey Yasuo Kumagai
May 1, 1924 ~ July 7, 2014 (age 90) 90 Years OldShare Tribute:
Kumagai, Joey Yasuo
May 1, 1924 – July 7, 2014
After a long and accomplished life, Joey Yasuo Kumagai, of Fountain Valley, CA, passed away peacefully in the early hours of July 7th, 2014 at age 90.
A veteran of the U.S. Army, Joey will be memorialized with Military Honors on July 21st, 2014 at 11:00am at the Riverside National Cemetery located at 22495 Van Buren Blvd, Riverside, CA, where he shall eternally rest in a Columbarium Niche. There will be a Memorial Reception immediately following the Memorial Service at the Mandarin Restaurant 18420 Brookhurst St, Fountain Valley, CA, at 1:00pm.
Joey was born in Los Angeles, CA and, at a very young age, learned the value of hard work by working with his father in his wholesale business at the farmers market on East 1st Street in Los Angeles. At age 8 Joey and his family had the privilege of attending the 1932 Summer Olympics in the newly constructed Olympic Stadium in Los Angeles.
Following his time in Internment camps during WWII, Joey served in the US Army Corps of Engineers during the reconstruction of Japan as an interpreter where he received a WWII Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal. Upon his return he married Margaret Hatsume Horikawa July 3, 1948 whom he had met in church before joining the Army. They started their family together while living in Ohio and enjoyed going to Theatre Productions and to the movies.
Joey attended Case Institute of Technology in Ohio graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1952, in the Top 10% of his class. In addition to his degree, before he retired in 1986, Joey became a licensed Professional Engineer. While at Lincoln Electric in Ohio he was the Inventor of the US Patent for a Power Driven Manually Held Welding Apparatus.
The majority of Joey’s professional career was spent in the Aerospace Industry. Eventually retiring from McDonnell Douglas where he served as Branch Manager - Advanced Manufacturing Technology. During his career many of his assignments were working directly on the manned space program and numerous aeronautical projects. Among his many accomplishments he took great pride in his work on the Saturn S-IVB and Delta Launch Vehicles, as well as the Lunar Lander and Space Station proposals.
Joey was a member of Toastmasters, eventually becoming an Able Toastmaster, and was also a member of the ASTME. His favorite pastimes were deep water and fly fishing, camping, golfing and skiing with his family and friends. He also had a love for knowledge and always tried to keep up with what was going on in the world.
Joey was preceded in death by his sister, Fumiko, his father, Kiichi and his mother, Mistu (Takahashi) Kumagai. He is survived by his beloved wife of 66 years, Margaret Hatsume (Horikawa), his daughter, Nancy Ann Kumagai (Thom) Belford, his son Paul Wayne (Nadena) Kumagai, his three grandsons, T. Andrew Belford, Kyle Anson Belford, and Christopher Joseph (C.J.) Kumagai, and three great-grandsons Alexander Makoto Belford, Nicholas Akira Belford, and Canon Isreal Salas-Belford.
If you would like to honor Joey’s memory, in lieu of flowers, the Kumagai and Belford families suggest a donation in Joey’s memory to the American Diabetes Association at https://donations.diabetes.org/site/Donation2 or by calling 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383).
May 1, 1924 – July 7, 2014
After a long and accomplished life, Joey Yasuo Kumagai, of Fountain Valley, CA, passed away peacefully in the early hours of July 7th, 2014 at age 90.
A veteran of the U.S. Army, Joey will be memorialized with Military Honors on July 21st, 2014 at 11:00am at the Riverside National Cemetery located at 22495 Van Buren Blvd, Riverside, CA, where he shall eternally rest in a Columbarium Niche. There will be a Memorial Reception immediately following the Memorial Service at the Mandarin Restaurant 18420 Brookhurst St, Fountain Valley, CA, at 1:00pm.
Joey was born in Los Angeles, CA and, at a very young age, learned the value of hard work by working with his father in his wholesale business at the farmers market on East 1st Street in Los Angeles. At age 8 Joey and his family had the privilege of attending the 1932 Summer Olympics in the newly constructed Olympic Stadium in Los Angeles.
Following his time in Internment camps during WWII, Joey served in the US Army Corps of Engineers during the reconstruction of Japan as an interpreter where he received a WWII Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal. Upon his return he married Margaret Hatsume Horikawa July 3, 1948 whom he had met in church before joining the Army. They started their family together while living in Ohio and enjoyed going to Theatre Productions and to the movies.
Joey attended Case Institute of Technology in Ohio graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1952, in the Top 10% of his class. In addition to his degree, before he retired in 1986, Joey became a licensed Professional Engineer. While at Lincoln Electric in Ohio he was the Inventor of the US Patent for a Power Driven Manually Held Welding Apparatus.
The majority of Joey’s professional career was spent in the Aerospace Industry. Eventually retiring from McDonnell Douglas where he served as Branch Manager - Advanced Manufacturing Technology. During his career many of his assignments were working directly on the manned space program and numerous aeronautical projects. Among his many accomplishments he took great pride in his work on the Saturn S-IVB and Delta Launch Vehicles, as well as the Lunar Lander and Space Station proposals.
Joey was a member of Toastmasters, eventually becoming an Able Toastmaster, and was also a member of the ASTME. His favorite pastimes were deep water and fly fishing, camping, golfing and skiing with his family and friends. He also had a love for knowledge and always tried to keep up with what was going on in the world.
Joey was preceded in death by his sister, Fumiko, his father, Kiichi and his mother, Mistu (Takahashi) Kumagai. He is survived by his beloved wife of 66 years, Margaret Hatsume (Horikawa), his daughter, Nancy Ann Kumagai (Thom) Belford, his son Paul Wayne (Nadena) Kumagai, his three grandsons, T. Andrew Belford, Kyle Anson Belford, and Christopher Joseph (C.J.) Kumagai, and three great-grandsons Alexander Makoto Belford, Nicholas Akira Belford, and Canon Isreal Salas-Belford.
If you would like to honor Joey’s memory, in lieu of flowers, the Kumagai and Belford families suggest a donation in Joey’s memory to the American Diabetes Association at https://donations.diabetes.org/site/Donation2 or by calling 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383).
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