Reiko Urayama

Reiko Urayama passed away on May 31, 2006 after battling lung cancer for over five years. She was born on March 20, 1934 near Pusan, Korea, to Tokio and Sawa Fujiwara who had moved to Korea from Japan as school educators. After spending her childhood in Korea, she and her family returned to her mother’s homeland in Okayama Prefecture in Japan. She grew up during the difficult times of the Post-War Reconstruction Period near Kurashiki. Although things were scarce, she excelled in school and attended the Okayama Educational University at her parents’ urging and received a teaching degree and certificate with a music emphasis. She spent the next few years teaching at elementary schools enjoying her time with her students. She met our father, Takashi Urayama, while he was attending Kyoto University in the Microbiology Department, and they married in 1959. Supporting her husband’s research career, she moved to places like Miyazaki, Tottori, Nagasaki, Tokyo, and Hiroshima during the early years of their marriage. Along the way, they had three children Yumiko, Shiro, and Junji. After taking leave from her own career, she returned to teaching kindergarten before leaving for America. In 1977, the family made the decision to move to Olympia in pursuit of career opportunities. This was an exciting as well as a difficult time as major adjustments had to be made to a new life. With her resourceful and driven attitude, she single-handedly brought herself and her family to a secure standing especially after her husband passed away suddenly in 1980. She began her employment her in Olympia at Panorama City and later went on to contribute to the state at the Department of Employment Security, Department of Licensing and at the Department of Revenue as a tax examiner/auditor. During that period, she took pride in continuing her education at local colleges. She retired in 2000 after 15 years of service at Revenue. Through all her efforts, she instilled in her children the value of hard work, the aspiration for high standards, and the pursuit of open opportunities. Reiko made many friends through the local Japanese community, especially through the Japanese American Citizens League. She very much enjoyed learning about cooking and sharing gourmet Japanese meals with her friends. During her free time, she also took comfort and joy in gardening to which she took with vigor. With her friends and children, she liked to travel when she could going to places like Vancouver, B.C., the Oregon Coast, San Francisco, Davis, Albuquerque, Chicago, Niagara Falls, New York, a number of places in Europe including France, Germany, and Switzerland, and of course, Japan. Reiko is survived by her daughter, Yumiko of Kirkland, WA; son, Shiro (Mikako) of Davis, CA; son, Junji, Albuquerque, NM; granddaughter, Nicole and grandson, Leo.