George Morikami

Sukeji "George" Morikami (November 4, 1886 – February 29, 1976) was the son of a tenant farmer in Japan who immigrated to the United States to join the Yamato Colony, a Japanese agricultural colony in Florida. He was contracted to work for three years at the colony and then receive a bonus. He intended to return to Japan with his bonus, but his sponsor at the Yamato Colony died and Morikami did not receive anything. He started out penniless, but by the mid-1920s he owned 1,000 acres (400 ha) of farmland and ran a mail order business shipping produce throughout the United States. He lost everything when the Florida land boom of the 1920s collapsed. He started over on borrowed money, and built up his business again, but had to withdraw from the mail-order business due to health problems. He again lost everything during World War II. He had acquired about 200 acres (81 ha) by the late 1960s, most of which he donated in 1973 to Palm Beach County for what became Morikami Park.