Teruko “Teri” N. Fujikawa passed away peacefully on June 10, 2022, at the age of 95. She is now at rest with her beloved husband, Sam.
Teri was born in San Francisco, Calif., to Hideji and Kane Nakamizo, she was the middle of three daughters. In 1942, Teri and her family were forcibly removed to the Tanforan Assembly Center then to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. While at Topaz, she met her future husband, Osamu “Sam” Fujikawa.
In 1945, Teri and her family settled in New York, New York. She received her Associates degree in Applied Arts from Boston University in 1949. Teri married her high school sweetheart, Sam, in September 1949, in New York, and they settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where she worked as an artist for American Greeting designing greeting cards and wrapping paper. She and Sam moved to Alhambra, Calif. in 1953, and then settled in Los Angeles, Calif. in 1955, where they had two daughters, Eva and Karen. In Los Angeles, Teri worked at Buzza Cardoza designing greeting cards, Hughes Aircraft as a technical illustrator, and at Rand Corporation as a senior illustrator responsible for generating and coordinating illustrations for research reports. She wrapped up her working career at Honeywell Bull as a graphics coordinator leading projects and coordinating graphics production.
While Teri worked full-time, she found time to be a Girl Scout troop leader and took on independent art projects and obtained her BA in Fine Arts and Social Sciences in 1977, at Immaculate Heart College. She took post-graduate classes at Cal State Dominguez Hills and co-published a Japanese coloring book. In addition, she put on one-person art shows annually that showcased her original sumi-e and calligraphy artwork. Teri also enjoyed aikido and line dancing.
Teri and Sam loved to travel; they made many trips to Japan, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and traveled to Europe twice. Teri, along with Sam, were founding members of the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles, as well as Go For Broke National Education Center. She supported Sam while he was the president of the Mainland Chapter of the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans Club.
Teri was predeceased by her husband, Sam; her parents, and her elder sister, Eiko Tomiyasu. She is survived by daughters, Eva (Norman) Noda, Karen Fujikawa (husband Barry Koepke); granddaughter, Kiana Noda; younger sister, Mitsu Fuchigami; nieces and nephew and their families, all of whom will miss her dearly.
Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, July 30, at 10 a.m. at Fukui Mortuary “Chapel in the Garden,” 707 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, with Rev. Mark Nakagawa officiating. In lieu of flowers or koden, please consider a donation to the Go For Broke National Education Center or the Japanese American National Museum.
www.fukuimortuary.com (213) 626-0441