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Services will be held Friday for Frank S. Tanabe, a World War II veteran who recently gained national attention after his grandson posted a photo on the Internet of the terminally ill Tanabe voting from his bed.
Tanabe died Wednesday at age 93 at the home of his daughter Barbara Tanabe in Honolulu. He had end-stage liver cancer.
Tanabe was born in Osaka, Japan, and was a retired U.S. Defense Department public affairs officer. During World War II he served in the Army’s Military Intelligence Service in China, India and Burma.
Barbara Tanabe said her father was determined to vote and filled out his absentee ballot the day it arrived in the mail on Oct. 17. After grandson Noah Tanabe posted a photo on social media site Reddit, The Associated Press wrote about it, and news organizations ran the story and photo.
Tanabe is survived by wife Setsuko, sons Roger and Dr. Ike, daughters Barbara and the Rev. Irene, brother Thomas "Tom," sister Lois Taniguchi and five grandchildren.
Visitation is 10 a.m. Friday at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral; service, 11 a.m.; inurnment service, 2 p.m. at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl. Casual attire.