Vicki and Alan Takagishi

Alan and Vicki Takagishi

Vicki and Alan Takagishi descend from two families with deep roots in the community. They have lived in the house Alan built for them on the Takagishi Family’s property in Loomis throughout their many years of marriage. While modest about their philanthropy, their care for community now and for many years to come will be remembered.

The Takagishi’s have made a gift through their estate plan which will someday establish the Alan L. and Vicki E. Takagishi Endowment Fund at Placer Community Foundation. This permanent fund will support their place of home for generations.

Vicki was born in Texas but grew up in Roseville. Her parents, Paul and Madelyn Farris, made the move when she was 4 after her father found work for Southern Pacific Railroad. She is the younger (by 20 years) of two girls. Vicki’s very first job was with the Roseville Telephone Company, which she successfully turned into a 35-year career. Now retired, she volunteers at her church in Loomis and helps to serve those experiencing homelessness.

Alan is a third generation Takagishi. Like Vicki, he had a full and successful 35-year career with Pacific Gas & Electric. On occasion, as a child, Alan worked for his brother at the fruit shed in Loomis (now the Blue Goose). His older brother worked on the second floor making crates for the fruit packers, where he received 3 cents per box. He employed Alan to help him make the boxes, paying him 1 cent per box. Alan attended Loomis Grammar school and was in the first freshman class at the new Del Oro High School.  He went on to attend Sierra College and was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1966 where he served a tour of duty in Vietnam.

Alan’s grandparents came from Japan to Loomis and started farming when they were around 18 years old. His parents, David and Michiko, later took over the business. David grew pears up until the “pear decline” in the 1960s. Alan recalls his father went from producing as much as 97 tons of pear in one year to zero the following year.

“He’d assemble boxes of produce and would hand it out for free to the people he commuted with by bus to Sacramento,” states Alan. “When my father retired from the state, these same people came to his retirement party to celebrate him knowing they would no longer get home-grown produce.”

Through the years, his father would build bicycles out of scraps from the dump and give them to kids in the neighborhood. He would also construct elaborate origami mini-umbrellas out of cigarette packaging (he didn’t smoke) and hand them out to friends and family. One umbrella would take him many hours to complete.

Vicki and Alan take pride in their town and they are field partners for Doctors Without Borders and contribute regularly to Fisher House, Placer SPCA and World Wildlife Fund.  Since Alan and Vicki have no heirs, they have decided to leave their estate to Placer Community Foundation to support the community where they have lived all of their lives.

Their giving is unassuming but meaningful. Like Alan’s father offering fruit and vegetables on the bus—they give because it feels good and does good. The Alan L. and Vicki E. Takagishi Endowment Fund will continue this legacy.