A Kind and Gentle Man

A Kind and Gentle Man. . I first met Shinzo Ohki in the early summer of 1942. My family had moved to 203 Brownwood Avenue in Columbia City and the Ohki's were neighbors. I was about 9 years old at the time., My brother, Harrison, and I developed a neighborhood business of mowing lawns, doing yard work and general odd jobs as needed. We had a good summer business of about eight or nine customers for walk and driveway snow shoveling, plus stacking wood. In those days, many home owners burned wood in the dwelling heating system. The truck from Morsches Lumber Company would dump a load of wood at the curb and it was the property owners responsibility to handle it. Our job was to toss the wood, one piece at a time, in the basement window and then stack it neatly near the furnace. It was hard work but also steady work and good exercise., As I became better acquainted with Mr. Ohki, I also got to know his wife and daughter. They were all soft spoken and gentle people. They also were very interested in you and your welfare., Mr. Ohki's daughter, Grace, was in college at the time and a talented musician and world-class clarinet player. I remember her as a beautiful young lady who was always asking me about school and any plans I had., Here we must remember the time frame. It was the early 1940s and World War I was just getting going., My brother and I were very much enjoying our relationship with the Ohki family. Shinzo always talked with us and always overpaid us., One summer day, after we had finished our work, Mr. Ohki came and paid us $10.00 each the usual amount for the weekly job was about $1.00 a piece. He was very soft-spoken, as usual, but not so cheerful that day. He said "You boys won't be able to work for me anymore. It will be bad for you and your family if you do. I want you to tell your mother and dad everything I say and they will explain it." He turned and quietly and quickly left. I think he was crying., We started to cry as we walked home, thinking we had been fired from our job. We did as Shinzo had asked and told our folks everything he had said. They explained that others in our small town might bring grief to us for associating with a Japanese family a mystery to me at the time but well understood in later years., True to his nature, Mr. Ohki was more concerned for our welfare than for his own., My memory of him has not changed or dimmed over these past almost eighty years. He was indeed a kind and gentle man.