Joyce T. [Kuwamoto] Ishizue passed away unexpectedly on November 5, 2012. She was born in Los Angeles, California, on May 29, 1930. The fourth of five children, the Kuwamoto family lived in East Los Angeles until they were relocated during WWII, first to Heart Mountain, Wyoming, then to Tule Lake, California.
After the end of World War II, Joyce’s father took the family to Hiroshima, Japan, where Joyce completed her schooling. She was an eager student, mastering the Japanese language and becoming a lifelong reader in both Japanese and English. In the early 1950’s, Joyce was the first of her family to return to Los Angeles. Joyce enjoyed telling stories about taking the Red Car to her job at Queen of Angels Hospital. She worked hard and soon brought her sister Pat back to join her in Los Angeles. While visiting friends in Dinuba, California, Joyce met Seiso Ishizue, a tall farmer from central California. They married in 1955.
Upon marriage, Joyce moved to Dinuba with Seiso, where they raised three daughters, Eileen, Lois and Mickie. Together they worked hard brought the rest of the Kuwamoto family back from Japan. Joyce found a job as a school librarian at the Dinuba High School Library. One of her proudest achievements was graduating from Mount St. Mary’s College, Class of 2000, at age 70 with a B.A. in Humanities and was awarded “Most Persistent Student”.
Joyce and Seiso sold their Dinuba farm and returned to Los Angeles in 2005, residing with daughter Eileen in Redondo Beach. Joyce volunteered many hours in the development of The Bridge: JCI Heritage Library located at the Gardena Japanese Cultural Institute.
The Seventh Day memorial and funeral service was held on November 9th at Dinuba Buddhist Temple. The 49th Day memorial service will be held at 10 am on Saturday, December 22, 2012, at Gardena Buddhist Church.
Joyce is survived by her husband of almost 57 years, Seiso, their three daughters, Eileen, Lois (Bryan) Leaburn, and Mickie; 3 siblings, Patricia Kusaka, Sadao Kuwamoto & Etsuko (Michael) Littlejohn and many other relatives and friends.