Allan M. Hida

Sacramento, California – Allan M. Hida of Eskaton Village Carmichael passed away December 7th, 2020, at the age of 91. He battled Parkinson’s Disease for 14 years. He is survived by wife Vivian; daughter Susan Hida (James Getz) of Sacramento; son Gary Hida (Lisa) of New Milford, Connecticut; brother Edward of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; other loving relatives and cherished friends. After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, 120,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast were incarcerated. Allan, his father, mother, and brother were forced to leave their homes and businesses, report to the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium with what they could carry, and bussed to the Tule Lake War “Relocation Center”. His father lost his Model T; they all lost other belongings--and their freedom. Allan was 13 at the time. After World War II, the family re-settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Housing was a challenge for his parents but Allan attended Lincoln High School, played clarinet in the marching band, and was on the gymnastics team. He went on to UW Madison to study science and earned his Batchelor’s Degree. He also lettered in gymnastics. After being drafted into the US Marine Corps, he focused on chemical defense and extended his service for an assignment in Japan. He received the National Defense, United Nations, and Korean Service medals. Allan’s efforts on justice denied to west coast Japanese Americans culminated in testifying before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in 1981. In 1988 Congress acknowledged the wrong and issued an apology and restitution to all remaining. Funds were also appropriated for an educational trust. Allan truly believed that the constitution and US legal system would rectify the injustice—and it did. Allan worked for the Milwaukee Public Schools for 32 years and retired in 1988. He taught biology and in the 60’s ran the school’s photo lab; he developed some of the first courses on ecology and ran the first magnet school program for “Earth, Energy, and Environment”. He was President of the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers in 1977. After classes and sometimes on weekends, he officiated at Men’s Gymnastics Meets. In retirement Allan traveled throughout Wisconsin to speak on the Japanese-American incarceration. He assisted social studies teachers by providing references, visual aids, curriculum guides, and encouragement to cover the incarceration in their classes. He served on the Japanese American Citizens League Milwaukee/Wisconsin Chapter Board for decades, served as Midwest District Governor in 1991-92, and received the National “JACL-er of the Biennium” award in 1998. After moving to California in 2005, he served as a docent for the JA “Uprooted” exhibit at the California History Museum. Allan’s other passions were music, church, home, autos, and family. He sang in the church choir where he met wife Vivian; they were married in 1958. He served on countless church committees. He had the house well-maintained, the snow plowed, the oil changed, the engine tuned, and anything else that needed doing. He was the ever-present father and friend: rarely missing Sue’s concert or Gary’s Little League or soccer game; always taking photos; frequently shuttling groups of kids…; patient, diplomatic, and inclusive. The family is deeply grateful for the caregivers at Eskaton-Carmichael’s Memory Care Unit who treated him as their own. Allan will be interred at the VA’s Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon, California. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Allan’s memory to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, Densho (Seattle, WA; “to preserve and share history of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans such that equity and justice are promoted today”), or a charity of your choice.