Masumoto Farm History

Obituary

She didn't want to be a  burden.

She liked to gamble "to forget her problems."

She loved and is loved and will be missed.

            Carole Yukino Masumoto passed way on March 5, 2020 at the age of 92 following a tragic fall. Born Sept 7, 1927 in Fowler to Hatsujiro and Masa Sugimoto, immigrants from Hiroshima Japan, she was the youngest of nine siblings. Her eldest brother, Mas Sugimoto,  was like a father to her and even took her along on his dates when Carole would pout about being left out.

             Her farm worker family labored in the fields and she joined them in the hard physical work. She attended local schools and loved to read books from the library. At Fowler Japanese language classes, she simply went to have fun and never mastered speaking Japanese. Her parents worried they had wasted money on her.

            She spent one year at Fowler High before the forced evacuation of her family and 120,000 West Coast Japanese Americans in 1942 due to the wartime hysteria. The Sugimoto  family was  relocated to the deserts of Arizona, imprisoned at Gila River Canal camp, Block 22.They spent 4 years behind barbed wire, coping and enduring while trying to make the most of the moment. She graduated from Canal High while  "in camp."

            Upon release, Carole worked a few years in LA where sister Lorada had relocated. She fondly recalled seeing Louis Armstrong playing live. She then returned to the valley marrying Takashi Joe Masumoto from Selma in 1948. They gambled on purchasing a farm filled with vines, tree fruit and tons of hard pan. With love, luck and hard work they could start a home and family farm - and celebrate the arrival of three children while living with and caring for the in-laws, Hikozo and Tsuwa Masumoto. The extended Sugimoto family remained in Fowler area, working the fields and planting roots before many moved to Los Angeles.

            Carole worked the farm alongside her husband, including "boxing raisins" each fall and packing peaches, nectarines and plums during summer harvest. She also sewed, crocheted and enjoyed community activities in the Del Rey Buddhist Church and community, including summer Obon dances and the pot luck dinners where she brought American dishes like taco salad because she "could not compete with the better cooks" who expertly made sushi and other Japanese foods. She knew who she was and was not!

            As the economics of farming grew tight, Carole carpooled with Claire Nagamatsu and worked for USDA AMS from late 1960s to 1990s as a clerk typist and office worker. This provided stability for her family with income, health benefits and a warm, secure work world with new friendships. Her boss, Lee Virag says, "Carole could always correct my misspelled words and jumbled sentences and worked with a smile, the perfect person on the job, always friendly."

            With the arrival of two grandchildren, Carole became "Baachan"/Grandma and grew to comfort them with warm smiles and tender hands. A gentle character and hard worker, she knew what made her content. She understood her limits (she was not a great cook and knew  that) yet was independent - often nurturing gardens and curious about life around her. Once she experimented and grew a "peach in a bottle." She was a fan of sports at Fresno State, the SF Giants and 49ers. She was an advocate for underdogs and misfits, attaching a personal meaning of significance. 

Hands that work. Hands that care. Hands that hold.

            Carole believed that actions spoke the loudest especially following the loss of her hearing decades ago. She became a keen observer of life and behavior and wonderfully grew more independent and self assured.

            She nurtured family to be resilient with "gaman" -  Japanese "to endure." She also encouraged authenticity, never overly impressed with symbols of success and maintained a philosophy of "mottai nai" - don't be wasteful. She saved boxes of used rubber bands, plastic forks, cups and bags. She did love to gamble and proudly announced she came home a winner on her final casino visit just weeks ago. But gambling was actually about being independent, a ritual of being free and having fun. She learned to text and faithfully communicated her thoughts and opinions with texts and emojis, even sounding political at times.

            Her hands helped care for her husband following his stroke in 1997. For 13 years she patiently fulfilled a promise of care until his passing in 2010. Time for a new direction, she moved to Vintage Gardens in 2012 and rediscovered a Japanese American community and family friends. In her final days she was cared for by a medical team at Community Hospital and finally surrounded by the warmth and comfort of Hinds Hospice.

            She is survived by brother George Sugimoto (93) who remembers "growing up in a sibling rivalry and it took the older sister Lorrie to simmer things down; we played games and Carole even shared Easter Eggs with me when I had none; the last time we shared a room as kids was when we were incarcerated at Gila River Relocation Center..."  Carole's  "oneesan"/older sister Lorada/Lorrie (Sugimoto) Inouye (98) says "Carole had sense of humor and spirit that made you feel special." Carole also shared being the youngest in a large extended family with her sister-in-law Yoshiye (Masumoto) Yamagiwa. All are part of a Nisei generation who persevered.

            Her children include son Rodney, married to wife Diane. Son David Mas Masumoto and wife Marcy (Thieleke) who recalls Carole as "very accepting, non judgmental  with an open mind to all." Granddaughter Nikiko and her wife Nichola DeNatale. Nikiko will remember "Baachan's vibrant spirit and jubilant laugh!" Grandson Korio remembers his "baachan being so kind and caring, making sure I was fed and doing ok...." Carole was preceded in death by daughter Shirley (Masumoto) Honda, survived by son-in-law Earl Honda, numerous nieces and nephews and their children who created a full and dynamic extended family.

            Carole's final wishes were for a simple and very quiet service and a private family memorial gathering. An empty bed now remains, but her spirit lives within many. She will be missed and remembered.

            In lieu of koden or contribution, the family requests you support a program that captures the stories of Japanese Americans: Yonsei Memory Project at www.yonseimemoryproject.com. We thank you in advance for thinking of Carole, sister, aunt, mother, baachan, friend, neighbor.