Meriko Wada Hayashi

Meriko was born in Seattle, the oldest child of Yonejiro and Sagako Wada. Her mother was pregnant with her when they arrived from Wakayama, Japan, and Meriko was named for their new home, America. She lived in the area now called the International District as a child, and Rainier Valley as a teenager. A Franklin High School graduate, she had a flower shop in downtown Seattle before World War II.

She was interned at Minidoka near Hunt, Idaho, during the war. There she met her future husband, Ted Hayashi. After being released with her family from the camp at the end of the war, she lived with them in Salt Lake City until Ted found her and proposed. In 1947, they married and returned to Seattle. They lived on Capitol Hill for the duration of their 58 years of marriage, until Ted's death on September 25, 2005.

Ted owned the Madison Street Market and then the Madison Plaza Pharmacy near 22nd Avenue and East Madison Street from 1939 to 1990, and Meriko worked at the stores with him for many of the years they were married. She also worked for various companies in Seattle at different times of her life.

She was active in the PTA at Stevens Elementary and Meany Jr. High in the 1950s and 1960s, and she volunteered for many organizations, especially Camp Fire Girls, during her life. She served on the board of the Seattle Mental Health Institute in the 1970s.

Meriko is survived by her four daughters and sons-in-law: Tedi and Glenn Yasuda, Rae Hayashi and Bruce Pulmano, Mari Hayashi and Ron Howard, and Sumi Hayashi and Carlos Smith. She is also survived by her five grandchildren: Khalid Howard, Miyoko Howard, Tomas Pulmano, Mahealani Smith, Seiji Pulmano; and one great-grandson, Asa.

In addition, she is survived by three sisters and two brothers-in-law - Yone Kishida, Fukuye and Harold Seike, and Midori and George Garrison - as well as her nieces, nephews, and cousins. A brother, Minoru, died when they were children. Her other brother Hideo (also called "Willie" or "Smokey") and a sister, Yuki, also preceded her in death.

Rememberances may be made in her name to the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington (www.jcccw.org).