Kaoru 'Bill' Honda's Memorial Service

The memorial service for Kaoru Bill Honda on Thursday offered a study in reinvention.

Some of us referred to him as Kaoru. Maybe 40% referred to him as Bill. And half the crowd of 140 called him “Billy.”

Pastor Anthony Chaboya told us what he knew of the deceased: that he came to church every Sunday wearing a suit and a smile. He was pleasant and quiet. He had retired from the U.S. Postal Service. That was Bill.

Nephew Chris Kawate talked of his uncle in Lompoc as a young man. He coached sports teams, he chaired the Presbyterian Church’s Japanese Society. He wrote to the editor in defense of the Nikkei community after December 7. And he helped form a local chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. “He was a leader,” Chris told us.

Chiyoko Iwamoto Kobayashi talked of Kaoru giving her a chance to make the only basket she ever made on the only basketball team she ever played on, a cherished memory from seventy years ago. That was the Kaoru we knew.

But the biggest group came wearing mismatched polo shirts, some even in shorts. They were all men in their sixties and seventies. They were senior citizen softball players who enjoyed competing with “Billy” on the softball field where he played second base past the age of 90. He was so unflappable at second base that a frustrated opponent once yelled “Honda, why don’t you just stay home!” They all loved “Billy” as only teammates can.

The common thread through Kaoru to Bill to Billy was integrity. He served as leader when needed. He supported others when that was needed. And he and Lucille always walked five miles a day.

Afterward, Chiyoko Iwamoto Kobayashi and her sister Miyoko Iwamoto Tachiki went to visit Kenji Ota at the Santa Barbara Convalescent Hospital.

Not having seen each other for 70 years, the first order of business was for Ota to recognize who was visiting him. After a few tips: “Lompoc,” and “Iwamoto,” Ota asked “which one?” There were five sisters, remember.

When Chiyo replied “Chiyoko,” Ota knew immediately. And his words were just as he said when Vanished was being researched.

“You’re the one at the prom,” he said.

Lucille Honda and the Iwamoto sisters hope to be with us on June 18 at the Japanese American National Museum.