Francis (Frank) Shuji Kuroda

Francis (Frank) Shuji Kuroda was born on April 23, 1947, at St Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara, sharing his namesake with the hospital. He died on October 5, 2022, in Portland, Oregon, where he made his home the past 15 years. Frank grew up in Santa Barbara, attending local schools and graduating from Santa Barbara High School in 1965. Following high school, he served as a medic with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam.

After being honorably discharged from the Army in 1970, he attended California State University, Long Beach and graduated with a degree in Business Administration. In the 1980’s, he started out as an Inventory Controller while living in Long Beach. Later on in the 90’s, he was doing software development while working in San Clemente. He moved to Oregon in 2007 and worked at Cascade Microtech as a software developer until 2021 when he retired.

When Frank was a child, he and his brothers had to attend Japanese school on Saturdays. However, more often than not, he was found at the market across the street playing hooky rather than at school learning Japanese. Later on in life, his boss offered him an opportunity to work in Japan, so he began a crash course learning Japanese using Rosetta Stone. His attempt at this was described as an “epic fail.”

Activities he enjoyed were surfing at Rincon, kayaking, hiking, camping and golf. He also had a little daredevil streak in him, evidenced by his exploits in motorcycle hill climbing, which is essentially a drag race up the face of a steep hill trying to be the first to reach the summit. More often than not, you would see him and his bike tumbling down the hill. You could say his success at this sport was less than “over the top.”

He also enjoyed traveling and was actually at the airport getting ready to board a flight to Bangkok when he unexpectedly suffered a major cardiac event. He never regained consciousness and passed 4 days later with his wife and daughter by his side.

He is survived by his wife Su, daughter Linda, and his three brothers, Gary (Sharon), Ken (Susan) and Allen. He was predeceased by his parents, Frank Kuroda and Grace Kanetomo.

He will be missed and remembered by his family and many friends as a character in his own right . He could be stubborn, a rascal, and sometimes he would march to the beat of his own drum, but he was generous and kind. He had a great laugh that was contagious and he had an impish smile that brought a smile to everyone around him.

A memorial event will take place at a time and place yet to be determined.
If you are interested in attending, please contact Ken Kuroda at:

ken.kuroda2@gmail.com