Tony Tsunehisa Yamada

Tony Tsunehisa Yamada, age 85, passed away on Thursday, November 13 2025, in Lehi, Utah. Tony was surrounded by his loving friends and family as he peacefully passed.

Tony was born in Yokohama, Japan on July 17, 1940 but grew up mainly near the city of Himeji in western Japan. After graduating Akashi High School in 1959, he studied in Tokyo where he met his future wife, Marie Anderson. He followed Marie to Provo, Utah and attended Brigham Young University, soon after transferring to the University of Utah to study architecture. In 1969, he married Marie and together they had two children, Erika and Marc. Throughout his career, Tony amassed many significant achievements as an architect, designing buildings for various clients all over the world.

Everyone knew Tony for his warm generosity. He was always quick to pay a dinner bill or buy a nice present for those that he loved. He had incredible charisma and a bright, authentic smile that charmed everyone who met him. Tony also had a love for art. He would draw sketches of the many exotic places he visited and also painted portraits of his loving wife.

Tony is survived by his daughter, Erika (Elson); son, Marc (Mikilani); and his five grandchildren, Kyle, Benjamin, Jacob, Sean, and Cate. He is also survived by his two brothers, Masakuni Sasaki (Keiko) and Takahide Sasaki (Eiko).

A Celebration of Life in honor of Tony will be held on Saturday, December 27th, 2025 at 11:00am at the Dai-ichi Ward building (2005 S 900 E, Salt Lake City).

To honor Tony, please visit some of his architectural designs in Utah.