YOSHIOKA, ETSUKO “BETTY” (1940-2015)

     Etsuko “Betty” Yoshioka (Poston 318-10-B) was born on May 12, 1940 to Goro and Kiyoko Yoshioka. Like all others of Japanese ancestry in the U.S., FDR's federal government stripped her family of its property and belongings once WW II began.  The family voluntarily moved from Los Angeles to Reedley, California to avoid immediate evacuation. Later, the “free” military zone changed and they were evacuated to the Poston, Arizona concentration camp 3.  She was imprisoned with her parents and sister Hatsuko, for 3 years. A sister, Mitsuko, was born a few months after their arrival to Poston. Tetsuo, the brother of the family, arrived two years later.

     After the war, the Yoshioka family rebuilt their lives, farming in Lawndale, California and eventually in Torrance, California. Her father died of heart failure at the age of 45, leaving her mother to support four children.

Betty Yoshioka

     Betty graduated from Torrance High in 1958 and then from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her passport soon had many stamps and her wanderlust never faded. In her twenties she lived on the tiny Greek island Skiathos, harvesting olives for a year. In her seventies, she returned for a visit. She loved to run marathons, eat rich meals, and dance. She was a macramé artist, avid reader, and loved to take photos. She built a successful legal transcription business, served as land-lord and property manager to her real estate investments, and was her own boss.

     Etsuko “Betty” Yoshioka died on October 7, 2015 following a prolonged battle with stomach cancer at the age of 75. She is survived by her long-time companion, Denzel Simon; sister, Mary Higuchi; nieces, Sachi Cunningham and Mari Higuchi; and nephew, Mark Higuchi.

Source: Published in the Los Angeles Times on Nov. 8, 2015

SHIOTSUKA, MISAO (YAMANO) (1919-2016)

Misao (Yamano) Shiotsuka ( 1919-2016)

     Misao Yamano (Poston 215-2-A) was born on July 14, 1919, in San Jose, California. She was the eldest of four children of Shige and Teiichi Yamano. She attended schools in Gilroy, California and graduated from high school in 1937. She went to Japan and studied sewing, music, and traditional Japanese cultural arts. Following the signing of Executive Order 9066, she was evacuated with her parents and siblings to the Salinas Assembly Center. On July 5, 1942, they were transferred to the Poston, Arizona concentration camp and lived at camp 2 block 215.

Misao Shiotsuka

     In March of 1943 at Poston, Arizona, Misao married Pvt. Sam Shiotsuka, who was training with the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team in Hattisburg, Mississippi. He had sent an engagement ring which was sized with a piece of string that he had sent earlier to camp. Tec/ 4 Sam Shiotsuka served with the famed 442 Regimental Combat Team 2^nd Battalion E Company in the European Theatre. The following year, baby Barbara was born at the Poston General Hospital. On February 22, 1945, she departed with her daughter and headed for Fruita, Colorado. After the war, they settled in the Gilroy-Hollister area. Misao became a seamstress and homemaker, and raised three children.
     Misao Yamano Shiotsuka passed away June 17, 2016 at the age of 96.She is predeceased by her husband Sam Shiotsuka in 2000; and survived by daughters Barbara Sakakihara (Phil), Wanda Shiotsuka (Bob Center) and son, Edwin Shiotsuka (Arline); grandsons, and  four great grandchildren.

ISHIBASHI, MASAHIRO "MAKO" (1922-2016)

Masahiro "Mako" Ishibashi (1922-2016)
      Masahiro "Mako" Ishibashi (Poston 30-5-A) evacuated with his immigrant parents, Mitsujiro and Fuku Ishibashi from Los Angeles, California. They arrived at the Poston, Arizona concentration camp on May 27, 1942. On January 10, 1945, he departed for New York City. His parents remained at Poston until November 12, 1945, and returned to Los Angeles.
     Mako Ishibashi, 93, resident of Monterey Park, died on August 1, 2016. He is predeceased by his wife, Haruko (Ishimine) Ishibashi in 2010.

Masahiro Ishibashi

     He is survived by his daughter, Colleen (Ken) Hayashi; sons, Gerald (Lisa), Grant (Colleen) and Craig Ishibashi; grandchildren, Jeannette (Mike), Jason (Kimi), Kimberly (Elias), Kristyn, Brittany (Jeff), Robin (Ryan), Cory, Brianna (Michael), Brooke, Brett and Eric; great-grandchildren, Shawn Michael (Brittany), Megan, Kayla, Conner, Hope, Kylee, Cael, Jaylon, Kai, Veronica, Jordyn; great-great-grandchild, Daxton; nephew, Glenn (Connie) Ishibashi; brothers-in-law, Hide and Thomas Ishimine; sisters-in-law, Ruth (Jim) Ishii, Mary Oda, Lillie (Joe) Amamoto, Grace (Bob) Morinishi and Donna Sill, also survived by many other relatives.

YAMAMOTO, ASAE (OYABU) (1907-2015)

      Asae (Oyabu) Yamamoto (Poston 219-8-AB) was born in May 1907 in Japan, the only daughter born to Fusakichi Kinoshita and Tokue Oyabu. She immigrated to the United States in 1922.

      After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the signing of Executive Order 9066, Asae’s husband, Naozo Yamamoto, a farm laborer who had immigrated from Japan in 1907, was picked up by the FBI as a “suspect alien” and incarcerated at the Department of Justice internment camp in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Asae Yamamoto and her six daughters (ages 6-14 years), were evacuated from their home in Salinas, California, to the Salinas Assembly Center.  They were transported by train and incarcerated at the Poston, Arizona concentration camp 2, and arrived on June 30, 1942. Naozo Yamamoto was granted parole and joined his family at Poston on August 1, 1942. The girls attended school at Poston camp 2. 

     The entire Yamamoto family left Poston, Arizona on August 30, 1945 and went to Bridgeton, New Jersey to for work at the Seabrook Farms. Asae Yamamoto worked many years in the Packing Department, and was a member of the Deerfield Presbyterian Church, Seabrook Christian Church, and the Seabrook J.A.C.L. She was a great cook who loved to work in her garden, adept at crocheting, knitting and sewing, and a devoted Philadelphia Phillies fan.

     Asae Yamamoto, 108, of Elmer, New Jersey, died on June 22, 2015. She was preceded in death by her husband, Naozo Yamamoto (1983); daughter, Esther Ono; grandsons, Russell Ono, Gregory Ono; infant granddaughter, Karen Taniguchi; and sons-in-law, Masaaki Ono, James Sakamoto, Yuji Sawamura, and Shigeo Sawamura. She is survived by her daughters, Nancy Sakamoto, Frances Sawamura, Alice Sawamura, Grace (Jim) Taniguchi, and Mae (Sam) Hashimoto; 9 grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren and 7 great great grandchildren.

Source: http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/southjerseytimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=175155892

YAMAGATA, FRANK HARUO (1925-2014)

     Frank Haruo Yamagata (Poston 325-8-C), was born to Japanese immigrants, Tomoichi and Hisae Yamagata. Following the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, people of Japanese ancestry living in the Western states were forced to relocate. For the Yamagata family, Mr. & Mrs.Tomoichi Yamagata and their children: Mary Kikuye, Tamae, Giichi, George Yoshio, Frank Haruo, Isaac, and Lilly, were transported by military guard from Reedley California, out to the Arizona desert to a place known as the Poston, Arizona concentration camp 3. 

     They arrived at Poston in early August 1942, when the desert temperatures were soaring well past 120 degrees. While in the camp, Frank Yamagata and his brothers awed the crowds with their basketball abilities playing on the dirt courts.

     Frank's brother, T/5. Giichi Yamagata,  left the camp and served with the all nisei 442nd RCT in Europe, while Mary and Frank left Poston in the spring of 1944 to work in Cleveland, Ohio. Brother George left Poston in the summer and went to Chicago, while Isaac followed his siblings to Cleveland later in the fall. His sister, Lily, accompanied their parents back to Reedley in early spring of 1945.

      Frank Yamagata, a farmer, married and raised a family with four children in Reedley, California. He died January 13, 2014 in Fresno, California at the age of 88.

YAMAGATA, CECELIA SHINOBU (SUZUKI) 1924-2013

     Cecelia Shinobu (Suzuki) Yamagata (Poston 305-10-B) was born January 11, 1924 to Heisuke and Chiyono (Ikema) Suzuki in Simi, California. She grew up in Simi and Santa Barbara, with her older sister, Sue, and younger brother, Ceasar. Her mother ran a boarding house. Her father ran a trucking business, running fish and goods from the coast to various mom and pop markets in the area.
     Following February 19, 1942 when all people of Japanese American descent during World War II were ordered to move inland from the California coast, she and her family moved to Orosi, California. They were later transported to the Poston, Arizona camp 3, one of America's WWII concentration camps for people of Japanese descent.
     At Poston camp 3, she met George Y. Yamagata (Poston 325-8-C). George left the camp to serve in the Army’s Military Intelligence Service.  She collected Stars and Stripes newspaper articles about his Army baseball pitching career in Japan.  He sent her letters with pictures. The most memorable are of the atomic ruins in Hiroshima.

     After the war, Cecelia went to Los Angeles with her sister to make a home for the Suzuki family. She received an A.A. degree and typed up to 120 words per minute and take shorthand at 40 words per minute. Her first job was a secretary with the California Department of Corrections in a clinical psychologist’s office.
     She married George Yamagata in 1954 and moved to Reedley. Their son, Richard, was born in Reedley in 1956. They moved to a 38-acre farm in Orange Cove and daughter Pauline, was born in 1959. In 1971, the family moved back to Reedley. She raised two children and was a homemaker and tended the family gardens.  She was an avid reader and supporter of the Reedley Library. Her history with the Reedley United Methodist Fellowship Church began in 1954 and she taught Sunday School and participated in Women's Fellowship Group. Her favorite events were the Church Food Bazaar and the Church Rummage Sale. In later years, she helped with the Church Bulletin newsletter and sent letters for the church.

     Cecelia Shinobu Yamagata died on February 23, 2013 at the North Pointe Health Center in Fresno. She is survived by her sister, Sue Tanaka; brother, Ceasar Suzuki; daughter, Pauline Hirabayashi (Ryan, Melissa, and Douglas) and son Richard (Leland).

Source:

http://www.reedleyexponent.com/articles/2013/04/11/obituaries/doc515daf472db9f253558755.txt

YOSHITAKE, JUNE ASAKO (IWATA) 1934-2011

June Yoshitake

June Asako (Iwata) Yoshitake (307-3-A) was born June 11, 1934, in Kingsburg, California, the second of four children of Harvey and Akiko Iwata (Poston 307-3-A).  She grew up in Dinuba, California. During World War II, she and her family were relocated to the Poston, Arizona concentration camp 3 and arrived on August 3, 1942.  Her father left camp on May 7, 1943 to work at Fort Savage, Minnesota.  The rest of the family left Poston in October, 1943 and went to Cleveland, Ohio.

     As a youth, June was active in softball and other sports, and a high school cheerleader.  In 1955, she met her future husband, George Yoshitake of Los Angeles, at a Japanese American Citizens League dance in Washington, D.C. They were married on April 7, 1957, in Washington, D.C., and had three children: Steve, Dawn and Glen.

      The Yoshitake family lived in Los Angeles and Montebello from 1957-66, later moving to Lompoc, California where she lived the rest of her life. June was a homemaker, and after her children graduated from high school, June worked as a special education teacher's aide in Lompoc for 15 years and retired in 1987.
      June was a member of the Valley of the Flowers UCC Church in Lompoc for 43 years. She taught Sunday School there and on the Board of Trustees. She served as a Hospice of Lompoc volunteer for about 10 years and an active member of the Santa Maria Japanese Community Center. June and George celebrated their 50th anniversary in April 2007 with their children and family on the Big Island of Hawaii.

      June Asako Yoshitake died on January 21, 2011 in Santa Barbara.  She was 76. She was preceded in death by her parents.

     She is survived by her husband of 53 years, George Yoshitake; three children, Steve Yoshitake, Santa Barbara, Dawn Kawamoto, Albany, Calif., Glen Yoshitake, San Diego; her sisters, Irene Enokida, Springfield, Va., Shirley Ross, Woodbridge, Va., and brother, Harvey Iwata, Richmond, Va.

Source: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/lompocrecord/obituary.aspx?n=june-asako-yoshitake&pid=148074729#fbLoggedOut