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| Sumi Tsuji |
Sumiye Alice Tashiro (307-9-D), born October 4, 1922 in Oxnard, California to Japanese immigrants, Yeizo and Toye Tashiro. She was raised in Lompoc and was a high school All-star basketball player.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her father, Yeizo Tashiro was picked up by the FBI and detained at the Department of Justice prison in Sharp Park, California, with other Buddhist Church leaders and Japanese Community leaders for unknown reasons. Sumiye was evacuated in the hot summer month of August of 1942 with her mother and sisters, Fumiye Mary and Tomiye from where they were living in Orosi. They were transported by train with her brother, Yeiki and his wife, Hisako to their living quarters in the Arizona desert at the Poston internment camp block 307-9-D. Her father was granted parole and allowed to join his family at Poston on August 15, 1942. Sumi was the director of the Young Buddhist Association (YBA) Choir, and won 3rd place in the YBA Oratorial Contest, "Aspect of Human Life." Her sister, Tomiye married Masao Victor Okamura in April 1943 and they moved to live at Poston 305-13-H.
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| Yeiki Tashiro 1943 |
Her brother, Yeiki Tashiro (307-9-D) was the first in the family to leave Poston on August 4, 1943, after locating a job in St. Louis. His wife joined him in St. Louis on February 1944. Sumi found outside employment in Salt Lake City and on August 16, 1943, she departed from Poston. Her parents left Poston on July 22, 1945 and resettled in Reedley, California. Fumiye Mary was the last of the Tashiro family members to leave Poston, and she found employment in St. Louis and departed from Arizona on August 7, 1945.
Following the war, Sumi married and lived on the Monterey Peninsula, where she gave birth to David, and owned the Vanity Box Beauty Salon on Del Monte Blvd.
In 1963, Sumi moved to Hanford, where she was employed as a bookkeeper at K.C. Bowl. As a bus driver, she transported handicapped children. Sumi became an accomplished bowler and was first woman to break the 700 3-game series mark in Hanford. She was a member of the Buddhist Temple in Hanford. In 2006, she moved to Manteca. Sumi Tsuji died in Monterey on December 26, 2010. She was preceded in death by her husband, Yento Tsuji, and her sisters, Mary Okamura and Tomi Okamura, preceded her in death.
She is survived by her son, David Uchida and his wife, Dr. Rita Koshinski-Uchida of Monterey; and brother, Yeiki Tashiro of Manteca.
She is survived by her son, David Uchida and his wife, Dr. Rita Koshinski-Uchida of Monterey; and brother, Yeiki Tashiro of Manteca.
Sources: The Monterey Herald, January 4, 2011
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montereyherald/obituary.aspx?n=sumiye-tsuji-sumi&pid=147599395&fhid=6695
