Shigeo “Doc” Kawamoto, who served with the 232nd Combat Engineer Company, part of the decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team, has died.
He was 98.
Kawamoto of Kailua was born in Kaneohe to Nakazo and Tsuru Kawamoto, both of whom immigrated to Hawaii from Tokuyama, Japan. Kawamoto was raised on a plantation in Wahiawa and graduated from Leilehua High School.
He then worked as a federal employee at Red Hill and witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In 1943, Kawamoto joined the Army and served as a demolition specialist with the 232nd Combat Engineer Company during World War II. He fought in Italy and France, where he and fellow Japanese-American soldiers liberated Bruyeres from the German occupation.
In 1945, he suffered severe injuries when he stepped on a land mine in France. He spent a year at a hospital in Michigan.
Kawamoto was awarded the Purple Heart and used his GI Bill to enroll at the Illinois College of Optometry. Thereafter, he moved to Japan, where he worked as an optometrist for the Army. While there, he met his wife of 63 years, Takeko Ohno Kawamoto, who worked as a receptionist.
The couple married and moved to Hawaii in 1956. Kawamoto briefly had a practice in Kaneohe before he was offered a position at Kaiser Hospital in Waikiki, one of the first doctors to work at the facility.
Eventually, he and other doctors moved to Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center, which was built after the original hospital was torn down to make way for the Hawaii Prince Hotel.
Daughter Kathryn Albu said he was well-liked and respected by both patients and doctors because he was friendly and a good communicator. Kawamoto worked for Kaiser for 24 years until he retired in 1983.
Albu further described her father as a humble and intelligent gentleman with strong moral values. Albu recalled how he taught her and her siblings to treat everyone with the same level of respect.
He was family-oriented and happiest when he spent time with his family and comrades of the 232nd Combat Engineer Company. “That gave him a lot of joy,” she said.
Kawamoto will be best remembered for his generosity and willingness to help everyone. “He was an honorable man,” said his daughter. “He was, I think, a good example of what a really good person is.”
Kawamoto is also survived by his son, John; daughter Jean Boyd; brother Junichi; sisters Masako Nishimura and Mary Matsumoto; and six grandchildren.
His service will be held Friday, his birthday, at Hosoi Garden Mortuary. Visitation starts at noon. The service will begin at 1 p.m. followed by the reception at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, his family requests donations be made to either St. Francis Hospice or the Honolulu Heart Program in remembrance of Kawamoto.
