FRANK SADAKICHI AKAMINE

At the conclusion of his military service, Dr. Akamine entered Loma Linda University and in 1954 graduated with honors from the Medical School. Dr. Akamine interned at Harper Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, 1954-1955, and served a residency in general surgery at Wayne State University Affiliated Hospitals, Detroit, 1955-1959. In 1956 he was one of a four-man surgical team that performed a successful operation on an eight-year-old girl whose blood circulation was stopped for twelve minutes. This operation rated a first page story in the Detroit News.

Dr. Akamine married Mildred Takako Kono of Hilo on April 9, 1953, at Los Angeles. They had one daughter, Marlene (Mrs. Wayne M. Sewake), and a son, James, who is now a medical student.

Returning to the Islands in December 1959, Dr. Akamine joined the Central Medical Clinic in Honolulu and limited his practice to general surgery. In July 1961, he left to take a residency in thoracic surgery at Alameda County Hospital, Alameda, California (July 1961-December 1962) and completed his residency at Children's Hospital of East Bay, Oakland, in November 1963. The following month he was back in Honolulu and opened an office in the King Kalakaua Building where he specialized in thoracic surgery. After a year in Honolulu he located in Fresno, California. In May 1965, Dr. Akamine returned to Honolulu for the last time and had his office in the Medical Arts Building and limited his practice to general and thoracic surgery. During those early years he also did a lot of heart surgery. Sometime in 1968 he left Hawaii.

From 1972 until his death he practiced in Granada Hills, California, and was on the staff of Granada Hills Community Hospital, Holy Cross Hospital in San Fernando and Northridge Hospital at Northridge. With the exception of 1971 when he limited his practice entirely to thoracic surgery, he did general surgery but assisted other doctors in heart surgery. He was usually on call 24 hours a day, and only on vacations was his time really his own. When he could, he enjoyed golf, fishing and hiking.

On June 27, 1971, Dr. Akamine married Nancy Lee Seery at the Chapel in the Canyon, Canoga Park, California. Their daughter, Jennifer Aiko, was born on June 16, 1972.

While in Honolulu, Dr. Akamine was a member of the Honolulu County Medical Society, Hawaii Medical Association and the American Medical Association. He was a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, a member of the Los Angeles County Medical Association and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He was also on the Board of Directors as Medical and Surgical Consultant of the Koga Institute, a member of the Japanese-American Cultural Center, Pacoma, California, and supported International Orphans, Inc., Los Angeles. He was a Seventh-day Adventist.

On January 29, 1981, Dr. Akamine died at Granada Hills Hospital following open heart surgery. He was 53 years of age. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, his son and two daughters. His first grandson, Geoffrey Sadao (a form of his grandfather's middle name) Sewake, was born some six months after his death.

Known as an outstanding surgeon in the San Fernando Valley, his untimely death came as a shock to his colleagues many of whom came to him for counsel and advice. At his memorial service on February 2, 1981, he was characterized as a "doctor who walked the extra mile" to bring comfort and to care his patients and who "literally sacrificed his health that others might live". His headstone is inscribed:

Not where I breathe,
But where my love lives - I live...

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