Bountiful, Utah – Mary Yoshie Sayama, 97, a longtime resident of Elwood, Utah, and more recently of Bountiful, North Salt Lake and Layton, Utah, was released from Utah due to complications from a perforated duodenum. Died peacefully at Bountiful.
Mary was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She was a quiet person, but really enjoyed being with her family and friends. She was always a hard worker and enjoyed raising her family on the Elwood farm with her husband Kazuo.
Mary was born on November 22, 1925 in Fresno, California to Kazuo Kishimoto and Izumi Kishimoto (Tomoshige). She was the first of four children. She married Kazuo Sayama on August 6, 1948 at the Ogden Buddhist Church in Ogden, Utah.
When she was young, she grew up and lived in an agricultural area near Fresno, California. At the age of eight (summer 1934), her parents took her, her brothers Tom and Dick, and her young sister Patty to live in Japan, where her parents worked to earn money. returned to America. She and her brother lived with her grandmother and uncle in Japan for four years before returning to the United States.
In 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered World War II. In 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the deportation of Japanese living in West Coast states further inland to immigration centers. As a result, her family and more than 10,000 Japanese Americans were displaced and sent to the Gila River Relocation Center on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona. They could barely bring in our belongings, basically one suitcase per person and had to leave most of our belongings behind. Life in the camp was difficult and cramped, and her family of six lived in one of her rooms in the barracks while in the camp. In March 1945, her father, who had suffered from a chronic stomach ailment, died in the camp at the young age of 43.
[Afterthewarendedin1945herfamilydidnotreturntoCaliforniabutmovedtoUtahattherecommendationofadistantrelativeHerentirefamilyworkedhardasfarmworkersandhadtoadapttotheunfamiliarsnowandcoldwintersMaryattendedDavisHighSchoolandearnedherdiplomaandsheworkedavarietyofjobswhenshewasnotatschoolorworkingonthefarm[1945年に戦争が終わると、彼女の家族はカリフォルニアには戻らず、遠い親戚の勧めでユタ州に移住した。家族全員が農場労働者として懸命に働き、慣れない雪と寒い冬に適応しなければなりませんでした。メアリーはデイビス高校に通い卒業証書を取得し、学校に行っていないときや農作業をしていないときはさまざまな仕事をしました。
In January 1948, she met Kazuo Sayama of Brigham City, Utah through Umeshujin. It didn’t take long to realize they were meant for each other. They became engaged a few months later and were married in August 1948. The two started a family together and worked at the Sayama Brothers Farm until 1956 when they purchased their own farm in Elwood, Utah. They raised her four children and taught them the importance of children. Family, work ethic, education.
She and her family were members of the Honeyville Buddhist Church and were active participants in many church-related activities. Her husband Kazuo served as president of the church from 1966 to 1969.
When her husband died in 1995, she lived with her daughters for several months until she was ready to move back to her home in Elwood, where she lived alone until 2014, when she was 88. Since 2014, she has alternately lived with her daughters in Utah and her sons in San Jose, California.
Besides family, her other passions include gardening, arts and crafts (especially Japanese cultural embroidery and crochet), watching Japanese TV, listening to traditional Japanese music, vacationing, and reading. , which includes cooking. Her cultural embroidery is award-winning, and at Box Her Elder Her County Her Fairs she always wins a blue ribbon, and often receives a large purple “sweepstakes” ribbon as well.
Surviving are her children, Fred (Janet) of San Jose, California. Julia (Dave) Nagata, Bountiful, Utah. Elaine (Stan) Pea, North Salt Lake, Utah. Lillian (Clark) Stenquist, Layton, Utah. 11 grandchildren. 6 great-grandchildren. And many nieces and nephews. Brother Tom (Eiko) Kishimoto, who lives in San Diego, California, is also alive. She died in 1995 before her parents, her husband Kazuo Sayama. In 2007 Dick (Kiyomi) Kishimoto brothers. with her sister Patti Kishimoto in 2015.
A funeral service will be held on Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at Honeyville Buddhist Temple (3945 W 6900 N, Brigham City, Utah) officiated by Reverend Jerry Hirano. Burial will take place at Brigham City Cemetery (300 E 300 S, Brigham City, Utah). Links to online condolences and live streams of worship can be found at www.ruddfuneralhome.com.
Instead of flowers, please send your donation to Honeyville Buddhist Temple, 3945 W 6900 N, Brigham City, UT 84302.
