Kiyoko Fujitani

1916 - 2010

Kiyoko (Kay) Fujitani
1916 - 2010

Kiyoko (Kay) Fujitani died on December 27, 2010, in Roseville Calif., from complications due to a stroke suffered on November 17, 2010. Kiyoko was 94 years of age. Born on October 28, 1916, in Brighton (now part of Sacramento) Calif., Kiyoko was the third of 12 children born to Hyakujiro and Kayo Hoshida. In 1925, Kiyoko and two siblings were taken to Iwakuni Japan to live with relatives, before returning to Sacramento in 1934. Kiyoko married Isamu Sam Fujitani in 1941. They were interned in Tule Lake Relocation Camp from 1942 to 1946. Sam and Kiyoko lived in several locations in Northern California where Sam worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. They settled in Lincoln, where they resided from 1954 to the late 1990s when they moved to Roseville. Kiyoko worked in agriculture, spending over 25 years with Fowler's Nursuries, in addition to periods of grading tomatoes on harvesters in Sacramento and Yolo Counties. Following their respective retirements, Sam and Kiyoko continued to work in landscape maintenance for over 15 years.
Kiyoko always enjoyed family reunions and gardening. After seeing her three children graduate from college, she added playing slot machines at various casinos to her hobbies.
Kiyoko was preceeded in death by her parents; husband Sam (in 2000 after 58 years of marriage); her siblings and in-laws Gunichi and Ishiko Hoshida, Natsuko and Nobuo Hiramoto, Janet Hoshida, Masaru Hoshida, Mary Yokoi, Jean Kagimoto and three siblings who passed away during their childhood; in-laws and spouses Muneichi and Shige Yamasaki, Frank and Kay Fujitani, Kitayo Fujitani, James Shiro Fujitani, and Matsuo Fujitani.
Kiyoko is survived by her three children and three grandchildren, Shigeru and Kim Fujitani (Ryan and Erika), Jean Fujitani, and Jim and Wendy Fujitani (Shelby). Kiyoko is also survived by brothers and in-laws George Hoshida, Michiko Hoshida, Tom and Barbara Hoshida, Tom Yokoi, Ken Kagimoto, Bob and Agnes Hoshida; and in-laws Hasuko Fujitani, and Tak and Jeanne Fujitani. She will be sadly missed by the extended Fujitani, Hoshida, Yamasaki, Yokoi, and Kagimoto families.
A memorial service will be held at the Placer Buddhist Church, 3192 Boyington Road, Penryn, Calif., on Sunday, January 2, 2011 at 2 p.m. Arrangements are being handled by Chapel of the Hills in Auburn, CA.