Grace Shigeru Aoki

Grace Shigeru Aoki died peacefully in her sleep on September 3, 2025. Born in Sacramento, California in 1931, she endured fires, floods, and the unjustified detention of her family in Amache, Colorado, but still managed to follow her dream of attending college, graduating from the University of Colorado. Romantic dreams of the west took her to Sunrise, Wyoming for a year, after which she headed to Oregon, where she taught at multiple Portland public schools. Grace married Toki in 1955, and although she loved teaching, she decided to focus on raising her children after the birth of her second son, in 1959. As the kids got older, she worked in the family corner store, befriending numerous neighbors who shopped at 34th Food Center.

She also loved to work in the yard, nurturing a remarkable garden in a tiny space at the store. One of her joys each spring was getting bedding plants and gardening supplies to prepare the ground for new growth. After the family sold the store and moved to a new home, she added an array of vegetables, happily exercising her green thumb for many years

She is preceded in death by her husband Toki; her parents Joichi and Yu Yasumura, and siblings Mary Van Heusen, Tomoe Yasumura, Edward Yasumura, William Yasumura, and Lily Nomura. She is survived by her sister May Murakami, sons Alan and Andy, and grandchildren Chuck, Henry, and Joshua.

A memorial will be held in late November.