Dr. Frank Y. Tanaka, Dedicated Family Dentist Practicing In Burien
When Latin Berry, rookie defensive cornerback for the Los Angeles Rams, graduated last June from the University of Oregon, one of the proudest people in the audience was Dr. Frank Y. Tanaka.
``But that was Frank to the core,'' said his wife, Kriss Kodama Tanaka. ``He gave of himself, expecting nothing in return.''
Berry, who played fullback at the University of Oregon, was one of many people to whom the Burien family dentist gave a helping hand or a word of encouragement.
```Get your education, get your degree,''' Kriss Tanaka said her husband advised Berry. ``And that boy did, and we're very proud of him,'' she said.
Dr. Tanaka, a 1952 dentistry graduate of the University of Oregon, died at home in Burien Dec. 30 of leukemia.
The funeral services held Wednesday included a procession of patients and friends praising Dr. Tanaka's friendliness and warmth.
A childhood friend and former Oregon governor, Victor Atiyeh - they grew up together in Portland - wrote, ``He was a wonderful person, with great concern and compassion.''
Dr. Louis Terkla, dean emeritus of the University of Oregon Health Sciences Department, attended the funeral.
A native of Seattle, Dr. Tanaka moved to Portland with his family when he was a child.
Soon after he graduated from Portland's Washington High School, Dr. Tanaka, along with other West Coast residents of Japanese descent, was interned, first at Minidoka, Idaho, then relocated to Ogden, Utah, and later to Cleveland, where he was drafted by the Army and assigned to the famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
But Dr. Tanaka raised his hand when members were asked who understood Japanese. He was transferred to Army intelligence and shipped to the Pacific. He was a member of the American occupation forces of Japan after the Japanese surrender.
``While he was in Japan, Frank developed an interest in Japanese art and a love of haiku (a form of Japanese poetry),'' his wife said.
Dr. Tanaka enrolled at the University of Oregon in 1947 and, after three years of undergraduate study, was admitted to the dental school.
Seeking to go into children's dentistry, Tanaka chose the Burien area. At first he practiced with Dr. Ed Blaine, a Burien dentist.
A few years later he joined several other doctors in construction of the Seahurst Medical and Dental Clinic at 1800 S.W. 152nd St.
A charter member and past president of the Burien Rotary Club, Dr. Tanaka established a 36-year perfect-attendance record and was named Rotary Paul Harris Fellow for his support of Rotary projects.
Kriss Tanaka said that at Rotary benefit auctions, her husband always bid for the oral-surgery donation, ``so at least one of his patients could benefit each year.''
He was a member of the American Dental Society, dental societies of the Universities of Oregon and Washington, national and state pediatric dentistry societies and Omicron Kappa Epsilon, national dental honorary. He also was a member of the Japanese American Citizens League, the Three-Tree Point Yacht Club, the Seattle Art Museum and the Henry Art Gallery.
Dr. Tanaka was inducted by the University of Oregon Dental School into its Marquam Hill Society for his ``dedication to his profession, his patients, his dental school, his community and his fellow man.''
The dentist also was a loyal son. When his mother suffered a stroke soon after his father's death, he brought her from Portland to Seattle and eventually to a Burien nursing home where he visited her every day for 23 years until her death.
Besides his wife, Dr. Tanaka is survived by two sons, John Alan Eiji Tanaka, Kirkland, and Rickio Woods, Los Angeles; a daughter, Tania Tanaka, Seattle; and a brother, John Tanaka, Portland.
Cremation was held. The family is suggesting remembrances to the Frank Y. Tanaka Scholarship Fund to be established with the Burien Rotary Club.