Tanino-Szathmary family photograph collection

Sadako Tanino Szathmary was born in San Pedro, California in 1921. Sadako’s father, Kumakichi, tried his hand at various professions during his life while her mother, Yoshie, worked as a maid, managed a noodle shop and ran a small restaurant out of the family home. She had a sister, Michiko "Mitche" (1918-1999), and a brother named Coolidge (1923-1995).

When World War II began, the Tanino family was sent to live in a horse stall at the Santa Anita Assembly Center while they awaited their permanent placement at Rohwer Internment Camp in Arkansas. While at Rohwer, Sadako’s father was “blacklisted” because of his bilingual abilities and was promptly separated from his family and sent to the Fort Lincoln Internment Camp, a Department of Justice camp, located in Bismarck, North Dakota. He remained incarcerated for a ten year period.

In 1944, Sadako moved to Chicago and had a difficult time obtaining a job. She eventually found work as a secretary and put herself through beauty school at night. In 1949, she entered into a partnership with Kaye Odishu and opened her own high-end beauty salon called “Kaye-Sada Coiffure Designers” at 49 East Walton in Chicago. In 1960, Sadako relinquished her stake in the salon when she married local chef Louis Szathmary. Originally from Hungary, Szathmary owned “The Bakery,” a popular Chicago restaurant. He wrote several cookbooks, and collected books relating to his native country. Louis Szathmary died in 1996 and Sadako lived in Oak Park, Illinois until her death in 2016.

Source: Szathmary, Sadako