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Tommy was born Thomas Kenichi Oka on May 1, 1954 in Los Angeles County. He lived with his family at 1600 Marengo Ave. in South Pasadena. On October 6, 1987 (age 33) he married Kathleen Ann Layton. He had suffered from asthma most of his life. Tommy was divorced and living alone, when he had an attack of asthma and walking pneumonia. He called 911, but was found in a coma, by the time the paramedics got to him. He was eventually taken off life support. Tommy passed away on October 20, 1993 in Santa Clara, California. He was only 39. He is survived by his parents and his sister, Peggy Oka Uyeda, (Class of 1965).Tommy had no children.
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Hugh Moran
After Tommy's passing in 1993, his parents, Fuki (now 88) and Harry (now 86) became the adopted grandparents to my children, Ryan (17) and Katie (15). Fuki and Harry are Granny and Gramps for my children, who otherwise had no grandparents (my mother has dimentia and cannot fill that role). I moved Fuki and Harry in 1997 from their house at the corner of Marengo and Oak to around the corner from me in Huntington Beach. Harry and Fuki are still very active, Harry bowls twice a week and they drive to Las Vegas 1-2 times per month for video poker. I see them every night on a walk, good for all of us. They still drive to LA to visit Tommy's grave the 20th of every month and have every month since his passing.Hugh Moran
Margaret Cogan (Murphy)
To Tommythere are people that come along in life who in a very unusual way make a difference, influence you, and even when you grow apart or you go away comepletely, the impact of that person remains. Although my relationship with Tommy was short (3-4 years)he infected me with Baseball. Baseball Stats, baseball the game, Major League Baseball, the dodgers-Ron the Penguin Cey, Steve Garvey, Sandy Koufax et al. When we moved up to Berkeley and lived together, we added the Giants to the our list.
We headed out to Candlestick Park, sat in centerfield, and abused Bill Buckner no end for being f....d. When our time together was over, and Tommy and I went our seperate ways, I kept his influence close to my heart, and to this day, I am an avid baseball fan, even though my team sucks the big one. I have visited other Stadiums, and spent a lengthy amount of time at Cooperstown. I think of Tommy whatever basaball field I go to, whatever game I see, and of course get reminded of him on a daily basis as Ichiro comes up to the plate.
Tommy is missed by many, more for his humor than his baseball knowledge. I miss him yeah, but I am thankful that he influenced me the way he did!