Donor Spotlight: Andy Goto

If life were a baseball game, Andy Goto’s ‘box score’ would showcase he played a marvelous game with some spectacular innings and many home runs! Andrew Yasuzo Goto was born on April 16, 1938, in Vale, Oregon. He was the fifth child of Nisaburu (Frank) and Masato and grew up in a poor farming family who chased crops across many states to earn a living. Andy attended nine different schools during his formative years. At one point their family lived in a converted chicken coop near Nampa, Idaho. Life was very difficult for his Japanese American family during World War II; they experienced racism and many family members were incarcerated in concentration camps. His childhood shaped him, causing him to be cautious of people, but it didn’t stop him from stepping up to the plate and swinging hard during each season of his life.

In the 1950s, his family landed in Quincy for the ‘unlimited opportunities’ with the Grand Coulee Dam and irrigation. He graduated from Quincy High School in 1956, the president of his class. The next fall, he headed to Seattle and became a Husky. In 1960, he graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Business and began working for Boeing. Just two years later, he joined the Army. Once his commander recognized he was an excellent baseball player, he told him the rest of basic training he should focus on baseball. It played out well and in the final game, Army vs. Navy, he slid into home scoring the winning run. After that, he went into the reserves and served the United States of America for eight years.

In 1963, he joined a Seattle firm Mutual Fund Broker as an accountant. Just one year later, he met the love of his life, Beryl; a young beautiful immigrant girl from England who just started working there. Andy and Beryl dated for nine years and finally tied the knot on April 7, 1973. The following year, they purchased a John Deere dealership with two partners, Jim Hirai and Bob Jacques. In 2000, Andy retired but didn't stop serving his community.

Andy and Beryl raised their three children, Michael, David and Kimi and were delighted to spoil seven grandchildren. He was an amazing husband, father and friend extraordinaire. It was “Service Above Self” as a loyal Rotarian, and he loved the Quincy Community. He was an avid golfer who loved a good round of golf on a sunny eastern Washington day.

For 51 years, he devoted his life to his wife, family, and community along the shores of the Columbia River. After an 18-month battle with cancer, Andy finished the game we call life, turning in his uniform and crossing home plate on May 30, 2024.

In memory of Andy, Beryl established the Andy Goto Memorial Scholarship to benefit students graduating from the Quincy School District who are pursuing higher education and have financial need.

The Columbia Basin Foundation is honored to work with the Goto Family to establish this legacy scholarship endowment, which will honor Andy and grow in perpetuity.