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TI: So let's talk about your family. So siblings, brothers and sisters?

TK: Yes. Second was Patrick. I'm using the Catholic name first, Patrick Shigeo, S-H-I-G-E-O.

TI: And how much younger was Patrick than you?

TK: Two years.

TI: Okay, so he was born, like, 1918?

TK: Yes, something like that.

TI: Okay. And any other brothers or sisters?

TK: Name of Francis Masao, M-A-S-A-O, Kobayashi.

TI: And how much younger was he than Patrick?

TK: He must have been about four... there's two years separating us, so maybe if I go back from me, Patrick and then Mary Elizabeth, my sister.

TI: Okay, Mary Elizabeth, and you're all, like, two years apart?

TK: Two years.

TI: Okay, so she was born about 1920.

TK: Yeah. And then Anna Kobayashi was right after Mary.

TI: Okay, so she was another two years, so about 1922, roughly.

TK: Well, no, Francis came after Anna.

TI: Oh, after Mary or Anna?

TK: Anna, after Anna. And then Mary Jane Kobayashi.

TI: Okay, so the order is you first, Tom, then Patrick, then Mary, then Anna, then Francis, then Mary Jane.

TK: Incidentally, Mary Jane's in Keiro right now.

TI: Oh, okay, so just a few blocks away.

TK: Yeah.

TI: So there are six, six children.

TK: Six siblings, yeah.

TI: And in the United States, what did your... you mentioned your dad was a good worker...

TK: Oh, what did he do first?

TI: Yeah, what did he do first?

TK: As I recall, he worked for the Grand Union laundry, which was on Main Street, I think. And then he worked for the Lincoln Laundry, which was near Columbia City, way down in the Rainier Valley. And then he worked for Kubota Garden, Kubota Gardening company.

TI: Oh, okay. And that's when he got more into the landscaping.

TK: Yes, uh-huh.

TI: Good.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.