Mamoru “Mamo” Takeuchi
Mamoru “Mamo” Takeuchi, loving husband, father, and grandfather, passed away at the age of 88 on Sunday, November 17, 2024 in Santa Barbara, California. Born on March 17, 1936 in Alvarado, California, Mamo was the seventh and youngest child of Jingo and Kiwa Takeuchi. Their large family lived happily in northern California during Mamo’s early years, until the outbreak of World War II. The family patriarch was sent to two different Japanese internment camps in New Mexico while Mamo and the rest of the family were incarcerated in Utah. Following a two-year separation, the family was finally reunited. His mother passed away in October 1945 several weeks after World War II ended. When Mamo, his father and three brothers were finally released in 1946, they went first to Santa Barbara for a brief time before moving to Los Angeles. Mamo attended Manual Arts High in Los Angeles and was offered a partial scholarship to play tennis at Pepperdine University.
A resourceful, earnest and hard-working young man, Mamo and his brother Goro came back to Santa Barbara and ran “Mamo and Goro’s Union 76” gas stations. He married Yukiko Dianne Saruwatari, and the couple had two children, son Kirk and daughter Lori, and later divorced. As he built his business into becoming a community entity, Mamo found love again via a funny, energetic and equally family-oriented woman from northern Japan, Reiko Galbraith. Reiko’s three children Andy, Setsuko and Christine joined Mamo and his family, forming a nice, blended unit. The couple was often described as a “perfect match” with his wife even inspiring Mamo to speak more Japanese.
Throughout his life, Mamo maintained an athletic lifestyle playing golf and bowling, competing in state championship tournaments while also enjoying with Reiko their kinship with several longtime friends of the Nisei Bowling League. Eschewing retirement upon selling the gas stations, Mamo served for several years as the vice president of Japan-based TIC Hotels, a position made possible by his fluency in Japanese.
Later in his life Mamo enjoyed a comfortable life of cooking delicious meals, gardening, spending time with grandchildren, and viewing golf matches and Japanese programming on television in a beautiful home they rebuilt after it was destroyed in the Jesusita Fire in 2009. Here Mamo and Reiko made their home a warm gathering place to both immediate and extended family to commemorate life events. Mamo will be remembered for his generosity and devotion to family and friends, his calm and gentle nature, and steady presence.
Mamo was preceded in death by his parents and siblings, son Kirk Takeuchi (Shelley) and stepson Andy Galbraith (Jennifer). He is survived by his loving wife Reiko Galbraith-Takeuchi, daughter Lori Takeuchi (Michael Schneekloth), stepdaughters Setsuko Rose (Arnie) and Christine Grant (Bruce), grandchildren Clayton and Clark Takeuchi, Ryan Grant, Andrew and Emily Galbraith, and great-grandson Kanon.
A memorial is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday, December 28, at Bethany Congregational Church (556 North Hope Avenue in Santa Barbara).