Shiz Inaba

SHIZ INABA

Shiz was born Shizu Fujita along with her twin sister, Mieko, on September 19, 1929 in Portland, Oregon to Seijiro and Haru Fujita. She was raised on the family farm in Milwaukie, OR with her father, Seijiro, and Uncle Hikogoro Kuribayashi. She attended grade school in Milwaukie but was considered an enemy alien in 1942 along with 120,000 persons of Japanese descent and hastily removed from their farm. Suddenly imprisoned as a young child along with her family; first to the Portland Assembly Center and then, to the Minedoka relocation camp in Hunt Idaho; they lived surrounded by barbed wire and armed guard towers throughout WWII.

Losing the farm and most of what they owned, they returned to Portland where Seijiro and his family operated the Riverside Hotel on Burnside Ave. They lived in and operated the hotel, where she watched the Rose Parade from the hotel balcony with her sisters; and sunbathed on the hotel roof with her younger brother Donald. Shiz graduated from Lincoln High School in Portland and later attended business school. She was a graceful swimmer, a stylish artist drawing fashion models in pencil and charcoal, and an accomplished bowler. She was the first in her family to fly on an airplane when she was invited to attend a distant bowling tournament. She was raised as a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist and was active in the Oregon Buddhist Church where she taught Sunday school and danced in the Bon Odori festivals. The Buddhist principles of wisdom, compassion, kindness, hard work, and gratitude were forever ingrained in the way that she lived her life.

She met Ken Inaba at a Buddhist convention and they were married in January of 1955. She loved to gamble and their honeymoon vacation led them to the dice tables of Nevada where she was such a hot roller that Dean Martin and his buddies were gathered around the table where she was throwing the dice.

They returned to the Inaba Farm in Wapato where they purchased their first 40 -acre parcel on the Yakama Indian Reservation with $10,000 in savings she had from working in the insurance office of Harold Rief. They raised five children on the farm and she did not hesitate to work in the fields, packing shed, or on the books of the farm. Her hard work, perseverance, and attention to detail was an example for all to follow as they built up the farm. Whether it was hoeing weeds, picking peppers, or packing sweet corn; she set the bar for speed, quality, and efficiency. As the farm transitioned into sales and shipping out their own produce, she filled in the shipping docs in the office by day and worked on paying bills at the kitchen table well into the night during harvest. The kindness she showed to the truckers waiting for loads was often repaid as they brought her fresh seafood or remembered her birthday with a cake.

In the kitchen she was a great cook and set the bar by which we all measure what good food really is. Baking and feeding the family of seven on a tight budget, we never went hungry. Nothing was wasted. She loved crab legs, oysters, matsutake mushrooms, and banana whipped cream cakes from the Bohemian Bakery in Portland as special treats.

Even into her 90’s she continued to work in the farm office, do several hundred deep knee bends at her bathroom counter, and gamble slots at the Legends Casino during the “all you can eat” seafood buffets.

She was still active running her section of tables at the Annual Sukiyaki Dinner for the church right up to the Covid years. It was her desire to return the farm back to the Yakama Nation that drove our decision to sell. Her wisdom, kindness, compassion, hard work, attention to detail, and expression of gratitude will be remembered by all.

She was preceded in death by her parents-Seijiro and Haru (Sasaki) Fujita, her husband-Ken, her infant son-Gaylen, sisters-Sumi Schloss and Mieko Ikeda, and brother-Tom Fujita.

She is survived by her children-Lon (Sheila), Wayne, Norm (Kitty), Diane, and Terri (Troy) Brown, grandchildren-Ken, Trisha, Taylor, Brett, and Lissette, great grandchildren-Kayden, Alina, Regan, and Emma.

We are especially grateful for the special love and care shown to mom by Dolores, Rosa, Janna, the Visiting Angels staff, and the Heartlinks Hospice team.

Her memorial service will be held at the Yakima Buddhist Church in Wapato, WA at 212 West Second Street on Friday, October 16 at 1:00pm with a reception in Yakima, at The Yakima Valley Museum following the ceremony.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Yakima Buddhist

Church or Tahoma Japanese Pioneer Garden Project at PO Box 1157, Wapato,WA 98951, or The Yakima Valley Museum, Joy and Sorrow exhibit, 2105 Tieton Drive,Yakima,WA 98902.