Yuri Maeda

YURI MAEDA AUG 1914 ~ DEC 2008 Longtime resident of Livingston with her husband Sam. 94 years old. Born Yuriko Fujii in August 1914 in Berkeley to Japanese immigrant parents. Passed away peacefully on December 29, 2008 at the Alexander Cohen Hospice House in Hughson. When she was one year old, Yuri and her older sister were sent by her parents to Japan to be raised by her uncle's family. At fifteen she returned to her parents in Berkeley. Graduated from Berkeley High School in 1935. Married Sam Maeda of Livingston in 1938. Except for the war years, she lived with Sam in Livingston from 1938 to 2006. After the outbreak of World War II, Yuri and Sam were uprooted from their Livingston farm and relocated to the Merced County fairgrounds evacuee assembly center and then to the Amache Relocation Center in southeast Colorado, as part of the wartime evacuation of west coast Japanese Americans and their immigrant parents. Shortly after arriving in Colorado, Sam and Yuri moved out of the camp to work for local farmers in Rocky Ford Colorado and Sam subsequently farmed with other evacuees in Grand Junction Colorado. Fortunate to be able to reclaim their Livingston property after the end of the war, they returned to Livingston to resume farming. Sam continued growing tree fruit until his retirement in 1995. In April 2006, Yuri and Sam moved to the Samaritan Village assisted living facility in Hughson, where they were both wonderfully attended to by the caring staff. Longtime devoted member of the Livingston United Methodist Church. Preceded in death by husband Sam in May 2008, three days short of their 70th wedding anniversary. Survived by son Lloyd of Citrus Heights, sisters Shizu Sato, Vickie Yumoto, Haru Hayashida and Michiko Uchida and brothers John Fujii (wife Francis) and Hayami Fujii (wife Phyllis), all of Berkeley and the Bay Area, and many loving nieces and nephews and their offspring. Also survived by Sam's sister Miyoko Sera of San Francisco. Preceded in death by her sisters' husbands, all of whom were very dear to her. Yuri's funeral service will be held on Saturday, January 10, 2009, at 12:00 noon, at the Livingston United Methodist Church, 11695 W. Olive Ave, Livingston, followed by interment at the Winton Cemetery, 7651 W. Almond Ave, Winton. Viewings will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 9th, and from 8:00 to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 10th, at the Allen Mortuary in Turlock, 247 N. Broadway.ALLEN MORTUARY Please share your memories www.modbee.com/obituaries ww.allenmortuary.com