<Begin Segment 33>

SY: So whose idea was it to switch over to a retirement home?

FO: Well, the thing is, I saw the need for Alzheimer's units. The rest of these guys said retirement. I was the only guy that was against it, because I saw my brother, he had Alzheimer's real bad. They had to tie him down eventually. So I saw the need for that, but they said, "No, the retirement home is more important than an Alzheimer's unit into that Keiro nursing." So that's what they said, so I said, okay, what can I say? I'm outvoted. And then when we got this retirement home, that used to be a hacienda, one of the Spanish grant something, and it ran from Boyle to the river, the hacienda.

SY: And it's like Boyle Heights, sort of the outskirts of Boyle Heights.

FO: So that was, I said, "You guys, that's a historic monument there," you know.

SY: And they took it over? You were opposed to it or you thought it was a good thing?

FO: Well, they told me to be quiet. [Laughs]

SY: So they ended up selling Cityview and then purchasing the Boyle...

FO: Yeah, Boyle Heights.

SY: ...Boyle Heights.

FO: But the thing is, I talked to a friend of mine who was active in the Jewish retirement home, and he says, "Frank, if I was on the board, I wouldn't sell it to you guys." I says, "Why? We'd pay for everything." "That ain't the point." He says, "We have some sentimental reason to keep that, especially the ICF building." They used to call it the Mary Pickford building, and they wanted to keep that into a hospital. Since we took over and they moved out, they couldn't do it.

SY: But it was, it was kind of a smart idea, though, for the Japanese community to have their own.

FO: Yeah.

SY: And that was something that all of you guys decided on together.

FO: Together.

SY: Because you realized that that was something that needed to be done.

FO: Yeah. We needed it. They finally convinced me we need it. [Laughs]

SY: And then Sumitomo cooperated and helped?

FO: Sumitomo and Bank of Tokyo.

SY: Both banks? I see.

FO: We were trying to keep peace in the family, you know how it is.

SY: I see. And then that was in... do you remember when the retirement home was started?

FO: Well, we just started our fifty year of Keiro.

SY: Keiro, so that must have been from the time that...

FO: Yeah, forty-something years. But I'm no longer connected with anything. I resigned, and I told them, after I talked to these PR guys that used to come by to help us, and the guy asked me, "How long you been on the board?" I says, "Forty-something plus years." He says, "Cut it out," he tells me. I said, "Why?" "Nobody serves on the board that long." [Laughs] I said, "You don't know Aratani, Mitsumori and Kiyo Maruyama. They're all on the board yet." So I told 'em, "I want to walk away instead of going out feet first." So they said, "Okay."

SY: So that was your decision and you're happy you made that decision. It was a lot of work, right, being for that many years?

FO: Yeah. And then, you know, you got a lot of pressure.

SY: Well, there's been a lot of growth, too, for Keiro.

FO: But you don't know some of the problems that we used to have. These guys would say, "Okay, we donated to you guys, now my parents are here, take care of them." We said, "Wait a minute. That's not the point." They said that they want the money, what you call that? You know, the retirement money...

SY: Oh, pension? Some sort of pension?

FO: Pension and...

SY: Social security?

FO: Social security stuff, the kids wanted it. And they said, "You guys take care of the folks." We don't do things like that.

SY: So there's all kinds of legal problems as well as family problems.

FO: So I said, "I don't want to get involved in any of the squabbles."

SY: But for the longest time you did and you enjoyed it?

FO: Yeah, enjoyed it, but you know when you get old, I don't know how these guys stand it. Are we still talking?

SY: Yes, we are. But it's a tough thing to be. But you must be proud that Keiro exists for this community.

FO: Oh, yeah, yeah.

SY: Because had it not been for this group of people...

FO: Yeah, they did a good job. One of the things that I did was get everybody mad at me on the board. We used to have steaks and something good at all the board meetings. And I told them, "That's not right. We eat what the residents eat, the residents." And they looked at me, and they finally said okay. And I said, "Instead of meeting at Keiro over here, let's go to the various places like South Bay."

SY: They have different Keiro homes now all through...

FO: Yeah, so I said, "Let's go to the various places. You guys never been there. I know because nobody says anything." So we used to meet at different places.

SY: That's great. So you tried to keep it very equal.

FO: Yeah. But it was George Aratani and Fred Wada, I give them the most credit. They're the ones that came up with the money from Japan. Now Japan is sending people over to study our method so that they can open up a Keiro in Japan. And then Seattle came down and wanted to know how we operated Keiro, we became close to Seattle.

SY: Yeah, it's a model.

FO: And then Chicago sent some guys over to me, they could study what we do.

SY: That's wonderful.

FO: But those guys worked hard and I give them a lot of credit.

SY: That was nice that you were involved from the very start.

FO: I've been a pain for them from the very start.

SY: Well, I think we're gonna have to close with that, Frank. Thank you very much.

FO: Thank you.

(Narr. note: The Emperor and Empress of Japan visited Keiro -- our high point -- it was like God came down from Heaven because they went around to shake all the residents' hand. The tears from the Issei residents was very touching.

I retired as a Sr. VP of Sumitomo Bank of California.

I resigned from the Keiro board several years ago after forty years.)

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.