Yukiko Hikasa Ferguson

1935 - 2022

Mrs. Yukiko Hikasa Ferguson left this world on Thursday, November 3, 2022, after a brief illness. Yuki was predeceased by her husband, Dr. Ray Ferguson (d. 1998), and is survived by her son Daniel and his wife Michelle (Luster) of Oakland, and brother and sister in-law Masae and Yoko Hikasa of Tokyo, as well as many nieces and nephews in Japan and the United States.

Yuki was born in Setagaya City, a neighborhood of Tokyo, on January 12, 1935 to Yozo and Namiko (Kimura) Hikasa. She was a child during WWII, and was relocated to the countryside from her urban home to avoid bombings and raids. While it could have been a traumatic experience, Yuki fondly remembered living with her cousins, aunts and others in a rural location with her usual sense of adventure, making the best of a hard situation.

In 1962 Yuki met Dr. Ray Ferguson while he was visiting Japan to further his education. Ray persuaded Yuki to travel to southern California to wed, and they were married on February 23, 1963 in Culver City, California. Ray and Yuki moved to San Francisco shortly afterwards, and in 1968 to Burlingame, residing there for the rest of their lives.

Yuki was employed by Japan Airlines for more than 40 years, eventually traveling all over the world working for the cargo division. She leaves behind many dear friends from JAL and the JAL Alumni Club where she served as an officer of the board. She treasured the friends made in Hawaii, Japan, San Francisco and elsewhere through her time at JAL. Yuki and Ray loved to travel, visiting many European nations, all of the UK, and much of Asia including regular trips to her home country of Japan. Through the fall of 2019 she traveled to Japan at least annually, in the autumn, to enjoy the cooler weather and seasonal foods while visiting dear friends and family members as well as her sister alumnae from St. Margaret's School in Suginami City in Japan. Yuki was a master needle worker, excelling at needlepoint and knitting. For example, she was so intent on getting a cable-knit sweater just right that she knitted it three times after the first two versions were not quite to her satisfaction. She was also a skilled watercolor painter, joining the adult classes at the Burlingame Community Center and reluctantly exhibiting her paintings with her friends from this group.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, November 18 at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple at 2 S. Claremont in San Mateo. If desired, donations in Yukiko's honor may be made to the American Cancer Society.