Charles Kazuto Tashima

SCARBOROUGH – Charles K. Tashima, M.D., died peacefully on April 7, 2025, in Scarborough. Dr. Tashima was known for his light humor and great kindness—to be in his presence was to be at ease. He was 92.

Born in Honolulu, he was the first of three children born to Charles Wakatsu Tashima and Miriam Misao Tashima (Yamaoka). Charles graduated as valedictorian of Schofield Barracks school in Wahiawa in 1949 and graduated Phi Betta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 1952 with a B.A. in Biology.

Following his graduation from Harvard Medical School in 1956, Dr. Tashima completed his medical residency at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City before serving for two years in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Korea.

Charlie introduced himself to his future wife, Vera, by swimming to a raft anchored in the lagoon at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The couple married in New York, where Dr. Tashima continued to work as a fellow and chief resident at Memorial. An oncology and hematology specialist, Dr. Tashima’s medical career spanned seven decades, including serving as Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology at Mount Sinai Hospital and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Grant Hospital in Chicago.

In the 1970s, Dr. Tashima was appointed Director of Medical Education at St. Francis Hospital in Honolulu, later joining M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute and establishing a private practice in Houston, where he and Vera raised their three children and resided through the 1990s.

After moving to Maine in 2000, Dr. Tashima cared for patients at Parkview Adventist and Central Maine Medical Centers in Brunswick and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. He also practiced in several under-served communities as locum tenens in Pennsylvania and Hawaii before retiring.

He enjoyed spending time with his family and reading history, mathematics, and, of course, the comics on Sundays.

Dr. Tashima is survived by his beloved Vera; and their three children, Karen (Evan Kaiser), Charles (Dixie Linder), and Keith (Tracy). Grandpa Charlie was blessed with eight grandchildren; and one great-grandson; in addition to many nieces and nephews, all of whom he loved very much. Dr. Tashima is also survived by his brother, Wilfred (Lily) of Honolulu.

He was predeceased by his sister, Charlotte Yamaguchi.

Interment at Mililani Memorial Park on Oahu will follow private services.