Kiichi George Noguchi BORN 1919 OCCUPATION Chemist, entrepreneur
IN 1919, Kiichi George Noguchi was born in Seattle, Washington to parents Mitsujiro Noguchi and Kiku Noguchi. Kiichi’s father worked as a peanut importer and exporter to England and Japan. The family moved to Vancouver in 1920. Mitsujiro’s siblings Yoshio, Shinkiichi, Kuni, Ayao and Seigo were born in Vancouver. The family originally lived on Triumph Street and later on Pandora Street. Between the ages of 13 and 18, Kiichi delivered Canada Shimbu to the downtown area and outskirts of Vancouver and worked on Mr. Koyama’s fishing boat in the summer. From 1937-42 he attended UBC, specializing in chemistry. Kiichi had planned to become a doctor, but his hopes were dashed due to the war and evacuation of the Japanese-Canadians from the coast of BC. His family was interned at Christina Lake for six months, and it was there that Kiichi received his Bachelor of Science degree in the mail from the UBC. After the family moved to the internment camp at Slocan Valley, Kiichi worked as an orderly in the hospital. It was there where he met his future wife, Makiye Nakamura. In 1945 he was permitted to move to
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RETURN a commemorative yearbook in honour of the Japanese Canadian students of 1942
Toronto. He then married Makiye and took a menial job making brooms at the Gibson Broom Company. From about 1945-60 he worked as a chemist for Flo-Glaze and later at Dupont Canada for about five years. He also developed his own business, Clearmount Plastics, which was later sold to George Nakamura. After Dupont, Kiichi started as a chemist at Aerosol Packaging and worked his way up to vice president. Around 1970 he started K.G. Packaging and was president until he retired in 1982. In 2010, Kiichi and Makiye moved to the Momiji Health Centre. They have two children, Louise and Vincent, and two grandchildren, Samuel and Mitsuko.