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FK: Now as far as your grandfather Felix, what do you remember about him when you were younger?

AB: [Laughs] Papa Fiki?

FK: Uh-huh.

AB: We spent a lot of time -- we as in my sister and cousins -- down at my grandparents' house. Parents that worked and... he was always out in his fields. He was really, really a funny old man. [Laughs] That's what I remember about him. I don't know. He would go out and just be outside all day and be totally happy. I don't know. He had a lot of cats. I remember that about him. He just really loved us. He would take us around and we'd help him pick the berries, whether it was strawberries or raspberries or blackberries. But, yeah, he was... both sides of my grandparents became kind of the second parental figures in our lives. They were always around and we spent a lot of time, a lot of time with them.

FK: Can you elaborate more on "he was a funny old man?" [Laughs]

AB: Mostly because of the relationship with... you know, my grandma. He was just... he did his own thing. I don't know. He was just very happy, very happy all the time, very witty. And just, I don't know, would play with us and just... he was just a unique character. He was... I mean, physically, he was really skinny and we always thought that was really funny that he was just our skinny little grandpa. He joked around. He was always very happy and very simple, and just had a good time with his family.

FK: I know you interviewed him when you were in high school, right? Is that right?

AB: Yeah.

FK: And what do you, what do you remember about what he told you as far Hawaii or coming over here to Seattle and coming to the island?

AB: There's a couple stories that kind of stick out. Well, one story that I always remember about him and the Philippines, 'cause I, we don't really know too much about what his life was like there 'cause he left at an early age. He left when he was eighteen. But apparently he was a really good swimmer. And I spent a lot of time swimming too, so he would always say, "You get it from me." Because I was good swimmer and a good diver, I guess. And... where was I going with this? You asked, oh, about how he came over, or....

FK: Yeah, what do you remember about him in the Philippines?

AB: Oh, that's the one story that I remember is that he's a good, good swimmer. And then he came over for the opportunities in the U.S. A lot of folks were coming over at that time.

FK: Did he say anything about his time in Hawaii, working in the pineapple fields?

AB: I don't remember that so much. I do remember him talking about being on a boat and feeling very sick. And I asked if he was a little bit scared leaving so early and he wasn't scared at all. It was just what everyone was doing. And he said he went with his friends and... but you know, thinking about it, when you're only eighteen, that's.... especially when travel was a lot different back then.

FK: So what did he do when... when he got to Seattle, what did he do?

AB: When he came to Seattle, originally, it was for the opportunities that were being advertised in the papers to work in the salmon canneries in Alaska. But then at that time I think there was also the advertisements for farmhands on the fields here. I don't really have too many stories about that time in Seattle. Just that splitting time between Alaska and here and the different seasons.

FK: Did... I know he became a foreman in Alaska. Did he ever talk about how he became a foreman?

AB: I don't know too much, no. I don't know.

FK: When he came...

AB: My uncle would know.

FK: Okay. Your uncle...

AB: Felix.

FK Okay, all right. Felix Junior.

AB: Felix Junior.

FK: Right.

AB: He might know more about that story because he spent time over there.

FK: Now when he came to the island, what did he tell you about coming to the island?

AB: You know, the only really memories that I have is him talking about the, you know, Mama-moto, and meeting the family and he'd talk about working in the farms all day and I don't know about his first experience on the island so much. But I do know that it was to come work on the farms.

FK: Do you know about what year that was that he...

AB: I think 1926 stands out in my head. I'm not... if he spent... okay, so 1906 is when he was born. Yeah, I think roughly around 1925, '26, he came to Bainbridge.

FK: Did he, did he talk much about what it was like to work on the berry farms at all?

AB: Yeah, he would say it was long, long days and a lot of work. And I know that, I mean, from experience, that strawberry picking is not an easy task. And so he wouldn't complain. He would just say that it was a lot, a lot different. And, he would say how the island has changed quite a bit from the farmlands before.

FK: He seemed to have a special relation with Mama Kitamoto. What did he... did he talk about that as far as that? Or did your grandmother ever talk about that?

AB: Oh yeah. My grandma, when she came over she was one of the first Filipino women on the island, so she said it was a very, very hard time for her because she didn't know where she was going. She was just... she was twenty-one or so and came. She definitely said that Mama Kitamoto helped her out and taught her what she should do when the phone rings, that she should say "hello." Taught her certain phrases early on when they first came. And, so right, so the Kitamoto family is who my grandpa had worked for. And, did you want me to ta'k more about...

FK: Sure.

AB: ...that relationship? Is that?

FK: Uh-huh.

AB: Okay. So when the Japanese were interned, quite a few Filipino farmers took over some of the Japanese farms while they were away and cared for the farms and so that partnership was established. And, so my grandpa had worked for the Kitamoto family. And when they... upon their return, I believe, and I don't know the details, but I think that he was given some land to start his own farm or... you know more than I do. I'm not sure.

FK: Now, do you remember your uncle Elalio?

AB: I don't. No, no.

FK: You don't. Okay.

AB: No.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.