Tokio Watanabe

Tokio Watanabe, 93 of Grants Pass died on December 21, 2013. Private memorial services will be held at a later date. For online condolences and tributes please visit stephensfc.com. Arrangements by Stephens Family Chapel, Grants Pass, Oregon. "Toki" was born on February 10, 1920 in Kekaha, Kauai, Hawaii, but was raised in Manoa Valley on the island of Oahu. He was a graduate of McKinley High School, Class of 1937. After also living in Kula, Maui, Anaheim, California and Wailea, Maui, Toki retired from his last employment as an Estate Caretaker and moved to Grants Pass with his wife Esther in 1980. Family, gardening, raising birds, mushrooming, and oil painting were his favorite pastimes. In 2011 he won an Adult People's Choice Award for his oil painting, "The First Samurai," at the Firehouse Gallery Art Show. In addition to his wife of nearly 73 years, survivors include one son, Wayne Watanabe of Grants Pass, Oregon; two daughters, Joy Doi of Mililani, Hawaii, and Sharon Souza of McKinney, Texas; three brothers, Maurice, Fred and Jack Watanabe of Hawaii, 7 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.