Wayne Jun Tsukazaki

Birth date: Sep 22, 1962 Death date: Jan 14, 2017

Wayne Jun Tsukazaki, 54, a resident of Honolulu, Hawaii, passed away on January 14, 2017. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 22, 1962, to Rieko (Takeshita) and Ushio Tsukazaki. Wayne was a graduate of Kaimuki High Schoo Read Obituary

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Nancy Kawakami

451w ago

Submitted on behalf of Lily Gonzaga:
Good evening everyone. My name is Lily I'm here to share some of my memories with Wayne I met Wayne in 1993 at Bank of HI. I was an immigrant who just migrated in the US within 6 mos. Wayne was a terror! He was strict, very particular and kind of OCD. So imagine me an FOB & him meeting at the first time on my 1st day of work. I tried my best not to make him mad. Until the end of the day when we were balancing our cash, I dropped my bag of loose coins! OMG!!! I can hear him running all the way from the hallway yelling who it was. I never thanked GOD that I was born short! I hid under my counter until he caught me. He looked at me said "You LOLO!" when I heard that, I was so relieved as I was coming out, I was giving him my BIG SMILE! I said,” I'm not lolo, I'm lola." You see Lolo in filipino is Grandpa and Lola means Grandma. I thought he was being sweet by trying to speak filipino. Well, he gave me a look of "What the??" and just shook his head. When I got home, my aunty asked me how was my first day? I told her that my Senior Teller is a japanese guy who was kinda terror. But he was sweet because when I dropped my bag of loose coins, he called me LOLO and I think he was trying to speak filipino. My aunty gave me the same look as what Wayne did, until she said LOLO means STUPID he was calling me stupid and he wasn’t trying to speak filipino.. Well I was more focused on what LOLO means than Wayne calling me one. Ever since then, whenever he would call me LOLO I would call him LOLA until he stopped.
We both left BOH as great friend, we kept in touch. Wayne was always there when I needed a friend, for support, to listen, and for comfort. So, when I got pregnant with my 1st child and my husband was still in the Philippines. Wayne would call and check up on me if there's anything that I need or want. That's why my husband is very grateful of him. When I was ready to go back to work after staying home for more than 2 yrs, Wayne once again was there to help me out. He suggested for me to look for a STATE job to invest on my retirement. When I followed his suggestion, he was so excited! He would call and ask on the status of my application. I remember when I told him that I went for the background check, he said excitedly, "You're in! I said well, I will consider I'm in when they call and offer it to me." He said sarcastically, "well, have you been to prison? Have you been arrested lately? i said....hmmm not that I remember. Wayne has always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. He would always push me; remind me not to sell myself short.
This thanksgiving when we saw each other, we talked, & reminisce our old memories. We realized how we stood to our promise of being friends, not just forever but for life... not knowing that it will be our last day to see each other. Wayne, despite of his poker face, was truly sweet guy just like how I knew at our first meeting. He was a very understanding, supportive, caring, loving, and responsible person. He always made sure that everything, anything & everyone are well taken care of and it's in proper place. Wayne was a GENUINE person with a genuine heart. And for that I want to Thank you Wayne for accepting me. For the all years of support, for believing in me, for your care, for your unconditional love. REST NOW MY DEAR FRIEND. Until we meet AGAIN. I MISS YOU ALREADY AND AS ALWAYS...I LOVE YOU.
THANK YOU.

Nancy Kawakami

452w ago

Submitted on behalf of Lisa Imai, UHM Office of the Registar:
Hello everyone. I'm Lisa Imai and I had the pleasure of working with Wayne for the past 12 years in the UH Manoa Registrar’s Office. I first got to know Wayne in 2005, when we were assigned to work on the Admissions & Records Holiday Party Committee, as the office newbies. I ended up being the Committee Chair which gave me the chance to boss Wayne around, and I’m not gonna lie...it was really fun. In all seriousness though, the Committee gave us a chance to bond and it was a nice way to get to know each other.
I got to know Wayne more when I moved to “2nd lunch” in our office. Just the fact of us being together for 45 minutes each day, allowed us to get to know each other a lot more. From childhood memories to weekend plans…nothing was off-limits. We found out what Wayne was like growing up, who his celebrity crush was (Alyssa Milano), and other random things that just came up in the course of our everyday conversations. As time went on, it became apparent that Wayne could be characterized as “old faithful” when it came to just about everything. His lunch followed a rotation of seven or so dishes and always included grapes, apples, or cuties. Wayne’s weekend plans always included vacuuming the house, taking his mom shopping, and of course a Broncos game if there was one. Wayne’s own personal shopping was done on an as-needed basis. Kelli Nakama, one of our co-workers, remembers when Wayne’s shirt rotation got thrown off by a home economics mishap. Apparently Wayne had to take care of ironing his shirts while his mom was in the hospital. He wasn’t used to this new task and somehow ended up with a big burn mark on one of his shirts. He was so bummed about it, not so much because he ruined a shirt but because it now meant he had to go clothes shopping for a new one.
When we learned of Wayne’s passing, I asked our coworkers, past and present, to send me their memories of Wayne, what they loved about him, and what reminded them of him. As you can imagine, the number one response was “the Broncos!” Just as frequently though, was the sentiment that Wayne loved his family. Ever the proud uncle, Wayne would proudly display all of his family photos at his desk and even show us videos of his niece, Reina, and his nephew, Rylan. It was really sweet to see this side of Wayne, compared to his other practical, sensible side. A memory that especially sticks out to me is from Christmas two years ago when Wayne decided to go and pick out a special gift for my coworker Kelli and I because we were new moms. He somehow ended up at the Paperie at Kahala Mall and he picked out a beautiful photo frame for each of us. It was really touching to think that a guy who really only would go shopping to buy groceries, replacement work shirts and tennis shoes (at Sears), would go out of his way to pick out such a special gift.
In addition to being a Broncos fan and family man, the sentiment that “Wayne was such a happy guy” came up a lot too. And it was so true! I think it’s safe to say that Wayne led what most of us would consider a simple life, characterized by routine and predictability, but no one could argue the fact that he was happy! I can’t help but think that a lesson we can all take from Wayne’s life is the idea of appreciating, and being happy with, what we have been given. How wonderful would it be, if we too could all be happy with what we already have, and find joy through the relationships in our lives? What a true blessing that would be!
For my birthday this past year, Wayne bought me a small gift, it came with these two matching sticks. Of course we used them that day and we took selfies together and I can’t help but think that it will be the perfect way to remember him. “HAPPY!” And in this spirit, I can’t think of anyone who lived a happier life than our friend and coworker, Wayne Jun Tsukazaki.

Butch Peris

454w ago

The Crystal Park Board of Directors would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family of our fellow board member and more importantly, close friend, Wayne Tsukazaki.
Wayne joined the board in March of 2013 after being ambushed and nominated by me, with which he apprehensively replied "What I Got To Do?" Lucky for us, he did join and is a big factor in how smoothly our building is operating to this day. When Wayne's name is mentioned, the first thing people say is "He Was Such a Nice Guy" and that he was. I consider Wayne a close friend and feel very blessed to have known him. I will miss you my Brother and think of you always.
Butch

Nancy Kawakami

452w ago

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