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MA: And you told me before that your family moved around a lot?

IO: Yes, 'cause I was born in Berkeley, and by the time I was about three years old, I think we moved to Elmhurst district of Oakland, California. And I don't remember, but I guess I started kindergarten there. But within a few years, we moved to San Lorenzo, then in a few years we went to, I think it was Mountain View... no, Mount Eden. Mount Eden, and then... let's see, where was it? I forgot. San Leandro, then ended up in Redwood City, California, and that's where I kind of remember things. 'Cause when we moved there, I was in the sixth grade. I went to Jefferson grammar school there in Redwood City, California.

MA: And what are some of your memories of Redwood City?

IO: Well, I went through the sixth grade and then graduated to intermediate school, was in McKinley, went to seventh and eighth grade there. Then the high school was across the street, Sequoia High School and went through the ninth and tenth grade and I went out for basketball, track, enjoyed myself those years.

MA: So why did your family move around so much?

IO: Well, my father was changing jobs all the time. And then after my tenth grade, my father switched again and we moved to Mountain View, California. And there, so I went to the eleventh grade there, well, it's the first half. The second half, my father in December says, "You're gonna have to quit school and help," because of the Depression. It was 1938, things were real bad. So I quit and went to work.

MA: And this was when you were in eleventh grade in Mountain View?

IO: Mountain View, yeah.

MA: So was your --

IO: So then we moved to San Leandro again and my father was working in, again, nursery there raising flowers. In the meantime, I got a job in Emeryville, California, just, suburb of Oakland, and I got a job at the Gardner Electric Company. And I was kind of a helper, cleaning tanks and stuff. They made large commercial transformers. And I was working there when the, Pearl Harbor came along.

MA: Well, let's talk about, a little bit more about your father. So he was switching jobs quite frequently.

IO: Yeah.

MA: Was this, was he involved in the nursery business this whole time?

IO: Pardon me?

MA: Was he involved in the nursery business this whole growing up?

IO: Well, just working. He had an opportunity in Redwood City, California, to buy a flower business, but he didn't do it. Lot of 'em had, in Redwood City, California, were raising chrysanthemums, and a lot of 'em had that kind of business. My father had a chance to buy into one, but he just turned it down and he continued to work at different places, and then primarily the roses.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright ©2009 Densho and the Twin Cities JACL. All Rights Reserved.