LETTER OF THE WEEK

You reported on the death of Hideaki Tochikubo as a result of a tragic

accident (“Man dies after being struck by car,” Feb. 10), but made little

mention of the part this little man played in our community and his

enrichment of our lives. In these days of celebrity and “dot-com”

success, it is often easy to overlook those who contribute to our daily

well-being and the fabric of our civilization.

“Johnny,” as he was known to his customers and friends, was a gardener

and resident of Orange County and our community for more than 30 years.

He was a factotum in Corona del Mar, where his white truck could be seen

daily traversing our streets. But he was more than “just a gardener,” as

many people knew him, and as I will describe to a limited extent below.

Johnny entered my life in 1988. I first met him shortly after I bought my

home in Corona del Mar 12 years ago. He served the owners next door and

offered to maintain my yard at either one of two levels: standard or

beautiful ($80 per month). I chose “beautiful” and since that time

(except for a brief period when we used ‘Gary who talked to snails’-- but

that’s another story), Johnny has taken care of our yard. To my

knowledge, his services were widely used, and he maintained many of the

homes in Spyglass and Corona del Mar.

No matter how large his business grew, Johnny always worked incredibly

hard seven days a week, was always punctual and gave more than fair value

for his modest charges. In addition to the regular maintenance, he would

cheerfully do any extras asked of him (sprinkler repair, pruning,

weeding, fertilizing, cleanup, seasonal planting, etc.), and usually

without extra charge. If he didn’t have time for a big job during his

regular time slot, he would do it on the following weekend, committing a

portion of his Saturday or Sunday. He would never make you wait. He was

always polite and thankful for any generosity shown to him.Although he

was diminutive in physical size -- he was less than 5 feet tall and

weighed less than 125 pounds -- he worked alone and was stronger than men

two or three times bigger. He was in wonderful health; his family reports

that during his entire life, he never took any medications. As a final

gesture, he and his family donated his organs so that others might live.

Although I never knew his exact age (he had the energy of a much younger

man), Johnny had just turned 66. He had been born in 1934 in a rural

village in Japan, the oldest of nine children, five brothers and four

sisters. His father always wanted to come to the United States but was

prevented from doing so because of World War II. After Johnny graduated

from high school and trained for two years at a horticultural trade

school, he emigrated in 1956 to the San Jose area as an agricultural

worker. After a short time, he moved to Los Angeles as a gardener’s

assistant, but saw the potential in Orange County and moved here to open

his own gardening business.

He returned to Japan to meet and marry his wife but came back to Orange

County to live and raise his family. He was a member of the Wintersberg

Presbyterian Church in Santa Ana and read Scripture for inspiration

before the start of each day. He also found the time to give a hand to

his friends and family despite his business commitments. He is survived

by his wife, three sons and a daughter and three grandchildren. He worked

very hard and lived very modestly all his life, but put his children

through college. He gave them the values and the example to be successful

citizens of this country.

He is buried in Pacific View Memorial Park in a grave overlooking the

gardens and city he once cared for. We will miss him, but we should not

forget him.

We should also recognize that he exemplifies achievement of the American

Dream and teaches our own children, as well as aspirants to life in

America, that, with hard work, that dream is still possible.

JOHN and NANCY MILLER

Corona del Mar