Four families had a significant impact on Dennis Simonian’s life and he never forgot it.
Each of the four families, who all happened to be Japanese American, taught the Fresno, California man about farming and family
KMPH reports that Simonian has built a 26 foot tall tower in honor of those families– the Takahashi families of Clovis, the Hayashi family, and Mochizuki family.
The tower will be dedicated on Tuesday.
Today the Simonian farm is one of Fresno’s biggest and also includes a museum.
Dennis took over the farm from Michael Simonian, the son of an Armenian immigrant.
The Simonian family is well connected and was invited to the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1995, according to Wikipedia.
You can read more about the symbolism of the tower and how it is connected to Japanese American history on KMPH.