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| Tom Ishibashi |
Tom Tomu Ishibashi, was born November 15, 1928 in San Pedro, California to Japanese immigrant parents, Tomizo and Umeno (Iwahashi) Ishibashi, who raised their seven children in a farmhouse in the Portuguese Bend area of Rancho Palos Verdes. Tomizo Ishibashi was part of a large community of Japanese immigrants to farm the peninsula in the early 1900s, at a time when Japanese and Chinese immigrants were not allowed to own property.
Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Tomizo took Yukiko and Tom and voluntarily relocated to Strathmore to continue as farm laborers. On July 17, 1942, they were evacuated to the Poston, Arizona internment camp 2 along with other relatives. On January 24, 1944, the family left Poston and resettled in Garland, Utah.
Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Tomizo took Yukiko and Tom and voluntarily relocated to Strathmore to continue as farm laborers. On July 17, 1942, they were evacuated to the Poston, Arizona internment camp 2 along with other relatives. On January 24, 1944, the family left Poston and resettled in Garland, Utah.
In 1949, the Ishibashi family leased around 150 acres of land located at the Torrance airport. Tom Ishibashi took over the plot from his cousins in the early 1960s when they retired. Tom developed farming techniques to accommodate the airport location, which offered land on the side of the property and between the runways. The airport plot, grew strawberries, corn, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers, and was the last piece of the original Ishibashi farm remaining in Torrance.
The Ishibashi farm stand located on Crenshaw Boulevard sells the farm's produce and is known for its fresh strawberries. At its peak, the Ishibashi farm employed about 15 workers on 50 acres. The promise of fresh fruits and vegetables drew customers from all over the South Bay, and lines formed long before the stand opened at 10 a.m. Though they have had to scale down the menu over the years, the stand continues to be popular among Torrance residents.
Ishibashi retired briefly in October 2005 to care for his wife, Maya, who was fighting an illness that affected her eyesight, and he reopened the stand in April 2006. Tom died on May 20, 2011 in Lomita, California, where he was a long-time resident. He is preceded in death by his wife, Maya (2009); father, Tomizo (1966); mother, Umeno (1997); and brothers, Ichiro (1999) and Katsumi "Kat" James (2002) .
He is survived by his daughters Marcia Oto and Mimi Tamura; son, Thomas; brother, Tsuyoshi Daniel Ishibashi; and sisters, Yukiko Yumori, Suzuko Hashimoto, andNaomi Hamach.
Sources: http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_18124668#
Los Angeles Times on June 3, 2011
Los Angeles Times on June 3, 2011
Ancestry.com
