Shinoda, Alice Hamako

January 12, 1914 - August 23, 2010

After ninety-six years of an eventful and wonderful life, Alice 
Hamako (Fujisawa) Shinoda died peacefully at the Keiro Nursing 
Home in Los Angeles on August 23, 2010. Born in Los Angeles 
on January 12, 1914, she attended local schools and graduated 
from Manual Arts High School in 1932 before meeting the love of 
her life, Paul Shinoda, whom she married in 1936.

By 1941, they had built a life and family, with Paul's successful 
flower nursery in Torrance and Alice raising a family of three 
children. When WWII broke out and the Japanese American 
population in the western states was ordered from their homes 
into concentration camps, Alice and Paul refused to cooperate 
with the government's orders and decided to leave the restricted 
military zone of their own accord. In the middle of the night, the 
Shinoda family defied a travel restriction and left California for 
Idaho and eventually settled in Grand Junction, Colorado where 
they remained until the war's end. 

After the war, they returned to Torrance where Paul resumed his 
nursery business, San Lorenzo Nursery Company. With the birth 
of three more children, Alice devoted herself to raising her 
children as part of the Torrance community, supporting her boys' 
Boy Scout activities, serving as a Girl Scout troop leader and 
active in the Gardena Valley Baptist Church. In 1965, Paul moved 
his nursery to Santa Barbara where he and Alice built a beautiful 
home (later destroyed in the Painted Cave fire in 1990) and laid 
down deep roots in the community. Alice became active in 
Bethany Congregational Church, continued her work with the Girl 
Scouts as a leader in the Tres Condados Girl Scout Council, and 
was always a ready volunteer for those in need. Alice had a lovely 
voice, enjoyed singing and encouraged a love of music in her 
children. 

She traveled extensively with Paul after he retired, visiting every 
country they had ever wanted to see. Over the years, Alice also 
traveled throughout the United States with Paul in one of many 
RVs they owned. She made life-long friends along the way with 
open invitations to come visit them in Santa Barbara. On one 
such trip, they discovered the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, and for 
the next eighteen years, until they were in their late 80s, drove 
their RV there to spend the long summer months, enjoying visits 
by family and friends and delighting in teaching them to fish for 
salmon and dig for clams. And in the winter, Alice spent time in 
Baja with Paul, returning each time with fresh fish for friends and 
family. 

Alice will be remembered as a devoted mother to her six children 
and their families, and as a loving aunt to her many nieces and 
nephews whom she stayed close to throughout her life. Alice and 
Paul hosted several young relatives and foreign students during 
their years in Torrance. She was a warm, generous, kind and 
loving person who welcomed all into her home and was loved 
and treasured by all. 

She will be missed by her children Paul Jr, Carol (John) Tateishi, 
Michael (Charlene Ajifu), Irene (Robert) Thornton, Roxanne 
(Wade) Nomura, daughter-in-law Norma Shinoda, ten 
grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She was preceded 
in death by Paul, her beloved husband of 72 years, and earlier by 
her son David and grandson Patrick Shinoda Thornton.

A memorial service will be held at Gardena Valley Baptist Church, 
1630 W. 158th Street in Gardena on Saturday, October 9th at 
11:00 AM. 

Donations may be made in Alice's memory to Bethany 
Congregational Church, 556 N. Hope Avenue, Santa Barbara CA 
93110; to JEMS (Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society), 948 E. 
2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012; or to the Morning Rotary of 
Carpinteria Charitable Foundation Inc., PO Box 703, Carpinteria, 
CA 93014, for its sponsorship of the Tomol Play Area Project. 

Published in the Los Angeles Times on September 5, 2010