Ben Takashi Sumida

Ben Takashi Sumida, 96, passed on to be with our Heavenly Father on Sunday, March 13, 2022, at 7:17 a.m. at the RiverStone Hospice Home.

He was born on Aug. 31, 1925, at Emmanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Buckman Grade School in Portland in 1939, and then he attended Clinton Kelly High School of Commerce in Portland. In the spring of 1942, his family, as well as many others, were moved into the Portland Assembly Center, where he helped the pharmacist deliver prescriptions. Shortly thereafter, his stepfather, brother Paul, and Ben himself volunteered to work, and so were sent via rail to the sugar beet fields around Nyssa, Oregon, where they lived in a Farm Security Administration Camp. In the fall of 1942, his whole family was transported to the Minidoka Relocation Center. On July 23, 1943, he graduated from Hunt High School, located on the grounds of Minidoka Relocation Center, Hunt, Idaho. His grandmother passed away while living in the Minidoka Relocation Center.

After high school, he worked on his uncle’s farm near Ontario, Oregon. He then entered military service on Nov. 29, 1945, at Fort Douglas, Utah, after which, he went on to serve as office manager in Narsarsuaq, Greenland. He was honorably discharged at AAF Separation Point, Westover Field, Massachusetts, on June 13, 1947, as a Buck Sergeant. He then attended the University of Oregon beginning in June of 1947 and graduated in June 1950 with a BBA. He then worked as a clerk at Tongue Point Naval Station. In May 1951, Ben began his accounting career with the Bureau of Reclamation in Ephrata, Washington. There he met and married his life partner, friend and cherished wife, Alta Ruth (Young) Sumida. In Ephrata, his three sons were born: Richard, Steven and Jerald Sumida. The family moved to Electric City, Washington, in 1967, so Ben could accept an on-site accounting position. Then the family moved to Billings in 1974, where Ben retired from the Bureau of Reclamation on Aug. 31, 1980. Ben then worked vie years as the accountant for the North Big Horn Hospital in Lovell, Wyoming. About his first day on the job there, his son Jerald passed away. He then worked for a Billings CPA firm and H&R Block, before finally retiring at age 62.

He was a great father and devoted husband who loved to fish. When he did go fishing, he always seemed to take one of his sons or his wife. Many days, he would lie on the floor with us or sit at the table and read the comics to us, even into high school. From my earliest memories until his final years at home, it seemed that there was not  a week that went by that he would not fix popcorn for us to share as a family while we read, watched TV, did homework, played games or visited. And he diligently took care of our mother to her final breath.

He was preceded in death by father, Hideo Sumida; mother, Shizuyo (Mizukawa) Sumida; stepfather, James Yoshio Sumida; brother, Alexander Masao Sumida; sister, Mary Sumida; son, Jerald Alben Sumida; wife most cherished, Alta Ruth Sumida.

He is survived by brother, Paul Tomio (June Nakada) Sumida; sister-in-law, Ruth Hikida Sumida; sister Ellen Tomoko Sumida (Robert Mamoru) Sasamoto; children, Richard Allen (Violet Rene Frizzell) Sumida and Steven Everett (Connie Lou Eaton) Sumida; grandchildren, Mark Frizzell, Marty (Joann) Frizzell, Aaron (Amanda) Sumida, Kaycee (Dustin) Chesley, Matthew Sumida and Miles Sumida; eight great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 22, at Heights Baptist Church, 810 Garnet Ave.