November 1926 – April 2022 – Fusaye "Foo" Sasaki, known to many as "Faye", loving wife, mother, grandmother, auntie, great-auntie and friend, passed away in Southern California at age 95.  She was the youngest child of parents who immigrated from Japan to the US in the early 1900s.  She and her four siblings were raised and helped out on the family farm in LA County.  Both parents passed when Foo was 11.   To keep the family together, her oldest sister married and with her new husband, did a remarkable job running the farm and caring for the younger children.

Foo enjoyed school and was a good student and a spelling bee champ.  She liked to draw, watch the many cats in the barn, and make up romance stories.  On weekends, she walked to Japanese school.  Foo's oldest sister became like a second mother to her.

In 1942, she and her family were among tens of thousands of West Coast Japanese-American citizens whose lives changed by a Presidential order requiring them to leave home and move to a WWII internment camp.  After two and a half years, the family was released from their camp that was over a thousand miles from the home they left.  Foo moved to the Chicago area and worked as a helper in a private home while she attended commercial art school.  Her talent was quickly noticed and she was hired as a graphic artist and fashion illustrator for a Chicago ad agency.  She met her husband, Frank Sasaki, at a community dance.  He was also a former grade school spelling bee champ.  They married and started a family.

In the early 60s, Foo and Frank's young family moved to Colorado where Frank worked as an engineer pioneering the aerospace industry.  They made many dear friends with other young families in their new suburban neighborhood.  The family took sightseeing trips through the Rockies, camped and fished at beautiful mountain sites, and visited the Grand Canyon.

Foo was a busy mother driving her three children all over the suburbs to their lessons and activities and serving as a Girl Scout troop co-leader.  She made the best birthday dinners featuring lobster tails and twice-baked potatoes, and the most delicious strawberry birthday cakes with whipped cream frosting.  She sewed her children amazing Halloween costumes and superbly added finishing details to their classroom craft assignments winning them many accolades and fueling their own creativity.  She loved watching Jeopardy and often knew more answers than the contestants.  She stayed up late to write letters and cards to friends and family.  Every Christmas season, she and Frank stood a fresh, tall fir tree in the living room and the family decorated it with handfuls of tinsel, colored lights and dozens of shiny glass ornaments.  Piles of wrapped presents hid underneath the lowest boughs, and more were crammed in Christmas stockings.  Foo said that since she grew up without toys, she wanted everyone to have plenty to open.

She painted portraits, pets and nature scenes in oils, acrylics and watercolor.  She painted backdrops for local theater productions and helped make props for parade floats.  She was instrumental in founding two art galleries in the Denver area and made special friendships through her interest in the arts.

Foo and Frank were thrilled when grandchildren arrived and they traveled abroad to meet their new grandson.  With their own children grown, in 2006, they moved to Southern California to be closer to the young grandkids and Foo's side of the family.  Just a year after moving, Frank passed away unexpectedly leaving Foo understandably unnerved.  She was extremely touched when her son and daughter-in-law invited her to live with them.  She accepted, giving her a front row seat to her grandkids' impressive achievements and her daughter-in-law's remarkable homeschooling.  Foo enjoyed many warm holidays and celebrations in their home, plus there was the family dog and a very lovable cat who quickly bonded with her.

She happily joined her nieces, nephews and their growing families at family gatherings.  She enjoyed visiting the many art galleries and museums in Southern California.  She had a good time traveling with family and relatives to scenic locations including Lake Louise in Canada, Italy, Hawaii, Florida, Mexico, Tahiti, Japan, and villages along the Danube.  In later years, she stayed closer to home and visited Monterey, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Laguna Beach and frequently drove to Mission San Juan Capistrano with her daughter-in-law to enjoy the rose gardens.

When the grandchildren left home, the house was quiet.  Some church friends spoke highly about enjoying life at a nearby independent living community.  So at age 90, she decided to move there too.  She greeted her visitors with a huge smile at the door and an enthusiastic, "Hi!  How ya doing?!"  Spry and blessed with lifelong great mobility, she enjoyed having people guess her age.  She loved bingo, her Bible study group, reading mystery novels, seeing friends, calls and visits with family and relatives, and especially playing Scrabble.  She was a Scrabble champ to the very end, often beating her children!

She is greatly missed by her children Ellen, Laura and David, their spouses Wallace, Harvey and Kelly, her grandchildren Matt and Anna, her nieces and nephews and their families, and many friends.  She was predeceased by her beloved husband Frank, and her siblings Juro, Sue, Tomoe and Mary.  We will all remember her for her good nature, laughter and sense of humor, creativity, amazing talent with words, and her abiding love for her friends and family.

The family greatly appreciates all the love and support extended to Foo and family during her transition.