When the Madera Method set out this school year to research and write the life story of Mr. Sunny Nishimoto and his family, the young scholars knew they were facing a daunting task, considering the esteem with which their subject was held in the community. Mr. Nishimoto was a civic leader, a successful businessman, a benefactor, and a philanthropist. In 2005, the year of his death, the Madera Unified School District named its new school, Nishimoto Elementary, in his honor.
At the time, a local writer said this of Sunny:
“The attempt to adequately gauge the enormity of Madera’s loss with the passing of Sunny Nishimoto is an impossible task. His life of sacrifice without bitterness, his love of country, his love of community, his love of family, they all rise to a level that is beyond the adequacy of human expression.”