Roy Sakamoto, 89, helped organize county Little League

When Roy Sakamoto passed away, his relatives knew they had lost their greatest fan.

Whether it was organizing the family's annual summer golf tournaments or coaching the boys' baseball teams, Mr. Sakamoto loved spending time with his family and included them in his passion for sports - especially baseball.

He died from heart failure March 14. He was 89.

In 1951, Mr. Sakamoto helped organize King County Little League when his then-11-year-old son Dennis played.

"I think it was because I was playing and he wanted to see some kind of organized competition," Dennis Sakamoto of Bellevue said.

But the passion Mr. Sakamoto had for baseball ran deep. He helped introduce the game to thousands of Japanese-American children.

The game helped him deal with the anger he and others felt at being imprisoned during World War II with other Japanese Americans in internment camps, his family recalled.

Mr. Sakamoto was 31 in 1942 when he, his wife and their four children were taken from their Seattle home to the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho.

Through it all, Mr. Sakamoto maintained his love of baseball, his family recalled.

At the camp, a high-school team was formed along with seven adult teams. Most of the athletes had played high-school baseball before the war. Some were playing college ball when they were interned.

At Minidoka, the sagebrush and sand were turned into baseball diamonds, complete with bleachers and backstops. Uniforms were made from potato sacks.

Mr. Sakamoto's wife, Josephine Shizue, remembers it was a difficult time, but even then he tried to keep his family life as normal as possible.

When the Sakamoto family, now with five children, left the camp in 1944, they were not allowed to return to Seattle until after the war ended in 1945. They then moved to Spokane.

His wife said it was difficult for her husband to find work because of his Japanese ancestry. With help from two friends, Mr. Sakamoto learned to repair cars.

In November 1945, he opened his own business in Seattle, RS Auto Rebuild. Although Mr. Sakamoto retired in 1975 and sold the business, the body-and-fender shop continues on South King Street with the same name.

Although the business kept him busy, his wife and children remember he always had time for them.

"We all knew how much he adored us," granddaughter Dana Barker said. "I think what makes it so hard is that we've lost our biggest fan."

Survivors in addition to his wife and son Dennis are son Kent Sakamoto of Seattle; daughters Eileen Okada, Sharon Sakamoto Takemura and Joy Barker, all of Seattle; 15 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; two sisters; and 18 nieces and nephews.

Services have been held.

Donations may be made to Maryknoll Fathers, 958 16th Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98122; Nikkei Concerns, 1601 E. Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98122; or Catholic Community Service, 100 23rd Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98144.

Lisa L. Diaz's phone message number is 206-464-2376. Her e-mail address is ldiaz@seattletimes.com