Hiroshi Shimizu, 88, of Miliani, HI, passed away on August 20, 2010.
He was born in Lewiston, Utah. Retired metallurgical engineer and
certified life underwriter. Survived by wife, Fukiko; daughters,
Karen Shimizu and Janis Cassida; brothers, Jim Shimizu and Masaru
Shimizu; sister, Ida Tateoka; three grandchildren. Private service
held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
•
Alice Hamako Shinoda
After ninety-six years of an eventful and wonderful life, Alice
Hamako (Fujisawa) Shinoda died peacefully at the Keiro Nursing Home
in Los Angeles on August 23, 2010. Born in Los Angeles on January
12, 1914, she attended local schools and graduated from Manual Arts
High School in 1932 before meeting the love of her life, Paul
Shinoda, whom she married in 1936.
By 1941, they had built a life and family, with Paul’s successful
flower nursery in Torrance and Alice raising a family of three
children. When WWII broke out and the Japanese American population in
the western states was ordered from their homes into concentration
camps, Alice and Paul refused to cooperate with the government’s
orders and decided to leave the restricted military zone of their own
accord. In the middle of the night, the Shinoda family defied a
travel restriction and left California for Idaho and eventually
settled in Grand Junction, Colorado where they remained until the
war’s end.
After the war, they returned to Torrance where Paul resumed his
nursery business, San Lorenzo Nursery Company. With the birth of
three more children, Alice devoted herself to raising her children as
part of the Torrance community, supporting her boys’ Boy Scout
activities, serving as a Girl Scout troop leader and active in the
Gardena Valley Baptist Church. In 1965, Paul moved his nursery to
Santa Barbara where he and Alice built a beautiful home (later
destroyed in the Painted Cave fire in 1990) and laid down deep roots
in the community. Alice became active in Bethany Congregational
Church, continued her work with the Girl Scouts as a leader in the
Tres Condados Girl Scout Council, and was always a ready volunteer
for those in need. Alice had a lovely voice, enjoyed singing and
encouraged a love of music in her children.
She traveled extensively with Paul after he retired, visiting every
country they had ever wanted to see. Over the years, Alice also
traveled throughout the United States with Paul in one of many RVs
they owned. She made life-long friends along the way with open
invitations to come visit them in Santa Barbara. On one such trip,
they discovered the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, and for the next
eighteen years, until they were in their late 80s, drove their RV
there to spend the long summer months, enjoying visits by family and
friends and delighting in teaching them to fish for salmon and dig
for clams. And in the winter, Alice spent time in Baja with Paul,
returning each time with fresh fish for friends and family.
Alice will be remembered as a devoted mother to her six children and
their families, and as a loving aunt to her many nieces and nephews
whom she stayed close to throughout her life. Alice and Paul hosted
several young relatives and foreign students during their years in
Torrance. She was a warm, generous, kind and loving person who
welcomed all into her home and was loved and treasured by all.
She will be missed by her children Paul Jr, Carol (John) Tateishi,
Michael (Charlene Ajifu), Irene (Robert) Thornton, Roxanne (Wade)
Nomura, daughter-in-law Norma Shinoda, ten grandchildren and seven
great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by Paul, her beloved
husband of 72 years, and earlier by her son David and grandson
Patrick Shinoda Thornton.
A memorial service will be held at Gardena Valley Baptist Church,
1630 W. 158th Street in Gardena on Saturday, October 9 at 11 a.m.
Donations may be made in Alice’s memory to Bethany Congregational
Church, 556 N. Hope Avenue, Santa Barbara CA 93110; to JEMS (Japanese
Evangelical Missionary Society), 948 E. 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA
90012; or to the Morning Rotary of Carpinteria Charitable Foundation
Inc., PO Box 703, Carpinteria, CA 93014, for its sponsorship of the
Tomol Play Area Project.