Bob Sakata, Renowned Colorado Grower, Passes Away at 96

Posted by Carol Miller|June 15, 2022

Colorado grower Robert (Bob) Yoshiharu Sakata’s passion for farming was so strong he never truly retired. When his son, Robert Sakata, won American Vegetable Grower‘s Grower Achievement Award in 2014, he said his father still came onto the farm every day. Bob Sakata died June 7, 2022, at age 96.

Sakata grew up on his father’s small farm in Centerville, CA. When World War II began, he was sent to an interment camp in Utah. With the support of a teacher, he earned an early release and began working on a dairy farm in Brighton, CO. The dairy farmer helped him start his own farming business following the war. Sakata built upon the initial 40 acres, growing it to more than 3,000 acres.

Here are just a few of the honors Bob Sakata built up over the years, according to the obituary his family wrote:

Renowned for innovation, Sakata garnered several accolades and honors in his lifetime. That includes a presidential appointment (by President Nixon) to the Advisory Board of the Commodity Credit Corporation and an invitation to the White House to honor American agriculture. He and his wife Joanna were inducte dinto the Colorado Hall of Fame, Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame, and received the Colorado Proud Lifetime Achievement Award. They also hosted Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan, who returned the honor by inviting the Sakatas to the Imperial Palace.

He was also deeply involved with his community and his employees.