[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 104 (Tuesday, June 28, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1007]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING MR. FRANK OMATSU

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JUDY CHU

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 28, 2016

  Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. 
Frank Omatsu, an outstanding citizen who has done so much for his 
country and his community in his 92 years.
  A native Californian, Frank was born in 1924 in Los Angeles, where he 
lived until the outbreak of World War II. His family was then uprooted 
and forced across the country to the Jerome War Relocation Center, a 
Japanese imprisonment camp in Arkansas. Frank was only a high school 
student at the time, and yet despite the cruelty of his imprisonment, 
he never wavered in his dedication to his country. When the 
imprisonment camps were finally closed, instead of returning back to 
the life from which he was uprooted, Frank chose to join the U.S. Army. 
He served in the Military Intelligence Service, 77th Division, where he 
served overseas in the Philippines and Japan. Even after his family was 
treated like prisoners, he chose to fight for his country.
  When Frank returned home from the war, he immediately went back to 
school to complete his education, and attended Los Angeles City College 
and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After graduating 
from UCLA, he became the first `Nisei,' or second-generation Japanese 
American, to manage the Sumitomo Bank of California. As a manager, Mr. 
Omatsu provided loans and support to Japanese Americans returning from 
internment camps, helping them to get back on their feet financially. 
Always an active leader in his community, Frank was Finance Officer for 
Commodore Perry Post 525 of the American Legion Veterans organization. 
In 1985, he served as chairperson of the Little Tokyo Centennial Time 
Capsule. This time capsule, buried beneath a tree at the Japanese 
American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, 
preserves the culture and history of the Japanese American community in 
Los Angeles at the time. The following year, Frank founded the 
`Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Memorial Board' to honor the first Asian 
Pacific American to reach outer space who was tragically killed in the 
Challenger Space Shuttle in 1986. The board celebrates the life and 
upholds the legacy of Astronaut Onizuka as an inspiration to future 
generations of Asian Pacific Americans.
  Building upon his legacy of serving others and improving his 
community, Frank was one of the ``magnificent seven'' original board 
members of Keiro Senior Healthcare, a not-for-profit organization 
dedicated to enhancing the quality of senior life for the Los Angeles 
Japanese-American community. Keiro has provided quality care, bilingual 
resources, and culturally sensitive programs to the elderly Japanese 
American community. The Keiro facilities themselves have become a 
cornerstone of the community, where families would gather to celebrate 
their rich cultural history.
  As one of the original board members of Keiro, Frank used his finance 
and banking knowledge to ensure the success of the organization, which 
has been operating since 1961. He served on the board for 42 years, 
helping to make Keiro a cherished and valued institution in the 
Japanese American community in Los Angeles and across the state of 
California.
  Along with his colleagues, friends, and all those whose lives he 
impacted through his work, I am so grateful to Frank Omatsu for his 
lifelong dedication to Keiro and the Japanese American community. I 
congratulate him on this milestone, and wish him many more!

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