Frank Shobo Fujii

We all know all the ways my father; Frank Shobo Fujii contributed to the Seattle community, even up to the end, donating a piece of his art to the International Examiner CVA event last month. All the “titles” he earned---basketball coach, art teacher, commercial artist, community activist and leader. But of course, he was a husband and father first. As I scanned many photos recently, I saw so many with people at our house on Mercer Island, a home that he and my mother built 51 years ago. They opened themselves to so many people and I learned so much from all their community involvement and connections with some of the elite leaders at my young age.

But first growing up on Beacon Hill on Spencer Street, we also were social with the neighbor kids and my dad would of course, make his famous one of a kind signs for all of our “social events.” He painted our tricycles with our names, made forts inside the house out of cardboard, and we repaid him by helping him put his silkscreened Christmas cards on the drying racks. Those would special times. The long and fun trips to visit my auntie Tomi in Hawthorne, California – with an overnight stop at the Nishimi’s in Sacramento….so many summers, going to Manhattan Beach and Disneyland and the corner grocery store in Hawthorne. Both Suzie and I would sit in the front seat of our 1972 orange Volkswagen Bus (my mom rested in the back!) and give him cold towels and frozen grapes…one of his favorite treats. Speaking of treats, he would make us frozen popsicles quite often, applying his artistic talent by using food! I remember when I was fairly young (I was 9 years old when we moved to Mercer Island), when my dad left for work, I would run up to the window in my room, and he would stop his car and turn and wave to me. Of course there were times when he forgot, and I would be very sad that day. We would eat at Dags near Franklin High School a lot, and of course, we thought that was the best! My dad loved his food, going to Three Grand, Hong Kong, Four Seas, becoming regular customers! Neither Suzie nor I were very artistic, but our dad was always “supportive” and “appreciated” our efforts…that goes for not being very athletic, too! He got mad when some people said “don’t you wish you had sons?” He taught us about family, and we visited his mother in a nursing home for ten years. There were also frequent trips to the museum on the weekends, Seattle Center and Volunteer Park, and others. I know that had some impact on who I am today.

More recently, Suzie and I were fortunate to spend a lot of time with my dad, getting him to his many doctors’ appointments and taking care of him on Mercer Island. I will never regret that, even though we both spent hours, lots of ups and downs, but the bonding was strong and loving. It was a gift to our dad, for all the sacrifices both he and my mom made so we could have the important things in life. And recently at his last trip the hospital, there were about three instances where some staff thought I was my dad’s wife….at first I took a little offense, but then realized that my dad didn’t look 86, and his voice was always youthful. And that’s how we will all remember him.