When D.K. Kodama opened his first restaurant in Honolulu, his mother, Sandy, became part of the kitchen staff. After a while, though, he asked her to work out front, greeting customers.

“;She stayed awake all night long,”; her son remembers. “;She didn't sleep a wink. The next day, she said, 'Do the chefs not like me? Am I doing a bad job?'”;

Nothing could have been farther from the truth. D.K. simply believed she had a gift of making people feel at home, and so his mother became “;Mom”; to the customers and staff of Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar, and later at d.k Steak House.

Sandy Kodama died Saturday of lung cancer. She was 77.

Many Sansei customers described Kodama as her son's secret weapon. She served, cleared tables, answered questions, solved problems, helped train the staff—she even carried babies so that parents could eat a meal in peace.

She remembered not just her customers' names, but the names of their spouses, children and friends.

She was a natural hostess, D.K. said, who simply enjoyed chatting. “;She'll talk to the wall if she has to.”;

When the six Kodama children were growing up, he said, “;our house is where all the friends came, where all the parties were. And afterward she'd sit at the kitchen table and talk. We'd get tired and go to sleep, and she'd stay up and entertain our friends. After a while they'd come just to visit her.”;

Sandy Okumura was born April 24, 1931, in New York but grew up mostly in Wahiawa. She married Tamateru Kodama in 1952; they lived in Aiea and raised five sons and a daughter. She was a homemaker and also baby-sat for other families, D.K. said. When her children were grown, she took a job at Ige's Catering Service in Mapunapuna, which lasted until D.K. expanded his Sansei restaurants from Maui to Honolulu in 2000.

In 2001, in an interview for a Mother's Day article in the Star-Bulletin, Kodama said her work in the restaurant was much more than a job—and she wasn't paid anyway. Meeting people, including the occasional sushi-seeking celebrity, was exciting and kept her young, she said. “;I just turned 70 and I feel 31.”;

Daughter Diane said her mother had been a smoker for “;a good 40 years”; until about 20 years ago. She had avoided doctors for several years but finally went for treatment this spring when her family noticed she was short of breath and extremely tired. She was diagnosed with cancer on her birthday, Diane said, by which time it had spread considerably. Chemotherapy seemed to be working, but doctors found in mid-August that the cancer had spread to her brain.

She received hospice care and, given that she had such a large family to help her, was able to stay at home through the end of her illness, Diane said.

Chuck Furuya, D.K.'s restaurant partner, said Kodama was the matriarch of the Sansei chain, “;the soul of what this company is all about.”; Whenever the staff had a question, “;whenever we did anything, I would say, 'What would Mom Kodama do?'”;

The staff is taking her death hard, Furuya said. He has told them, “;You have to aspire to be what Sandy Kodama was.”;

Kodama is survived by husband Tamateru; sons Dennis, Scott, Dave “;D.K.,”; Hugh and Gregg; daughter Diane; brothers Nobuyuki and Yoshitomo Okumura, and 12 grandchildren. Services are pending.