George Naganuma was born in San Francisco. His mother June Yamamoto was born in Hawaii and his father Leo Naganuma was born in Japan. George was in active military service during the Korean War and was interned at the Gila River Reservation during World War II. He followed in the footsteps of his father who was the first Japanese American to receive his plumbing contracting license in the United States. George’s first job was as an apprentice pipe fitter at the Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard. He received his Associates Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cogswell Polytechnical College in 1949 and received his California State Contractor’s License in 1961. That same year he took over the family business Naganuma Plumbing. He was a consultant to Servadei Service Inc, Higash & Associates, Kalman Mechanical Contractors and Keller & Gannon. He worked at New City Plumbing Inc. where he helped to build housing, schools and health facilities. Through his subsequent companies Metro Plumbing, Inc. and GM Plumbing, Inc. he worked at UCSFsupporting the hospital’s important construction and renovation projects. George served for many years on the Board of Directors of the Master Plumbers Association of San Francisco, an organization that supported Plumbing Contractors for over 100 years. He served as its most recent Board President until 2016. George was active in the Japanese American jazz scene playing drum set and hand drums. George was a vibrant and active person who was engaged in bowling, golfing, hunting and fishing. He was a long time member of the Presidio Golf Club and served as the club’s president for two years. George was an avid traveler and in addition to travelling throughout the United States, he visited Mexico, Tahiti, Hong Kong, Japan, Scotland, England, Italy and France. George married his wife Mary in 1964 and they have lived in San Francisco for 52 years.
He was husband to Mary Naganuma, father to Gary (Debbie), Richard (Maureen) and Kenneth (Suzanne), Kathleen and Claudine (Joel), Stepfather to Glenn (Karen), Judith and Ruth (Ken) and grandfather to Chris, Nick, Alex, Micah, Allison and Brooke and step grandfather to Dae, Garrett, Kelly and Noel and brother to Jean Shigematsu.
In memory of George, donations may be made to Buddha’s universal Church, 720 Washington Street, San Francisco CA 94108.
