Longtime resident of Pacific Palisades, Yuriko Hohri died peacefully at home at the age of 94. Born May 25, 1929 in Long Beach, she was the first of four daughters born to Noboru (Tom) Katayama and Yaye Katayama (Kanow).

Rapidly developing world events intervened when her family was interned in Santa Anita racetrack after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Their father was separated from them by the Federal government. As a 14-year-old, she advocated for her family's reunification by writing to her U.S. Senator, as did her parents and their friends, who appealed to many other government authorities. She, her mother and her three sisters were sent to Jerome, Arkansas, where the drive to secure her father's reunification with his family succeeded.

In 1944 with help from the American Friends Service Committee, the family relocated to Des Moines, Iowa where Yuriko enrolled at Drake University. She excelled in botanical drawing but her schooling was interrupted again when the family moved to Chicago  in 1949. There, she met and married William Hohri in 1951 and soon became the mother of two daughters.

Mrs. Hohri was active in a local Methodist Church with Japanese, Japanese American and Hispanic congregations. She typed the church newsletter and participated in many of its fundraising activities from spaghetti dinners to Japanese cookbook sales. One summer, she organized a day camp for the church's children and surrounding neighborhood. She played an active role in her daughters' school and participated in the PTA where she challenged the parents to accept school desegregation  in the 1950s. During the anti-war movement, she typed the manuscript for Guide to the Draft (1969), written for conscientious objectors opposed to the Vietnam War.  She was a dedicated member of Women Mobilized for Change, a Chicago-based organization during the 1960s and '70s that emerged from a YWCA study group. At the same time, Mrs. Hohri was a master seamstress creating clothing for her daughters reflecting  the latest fashion trends that she kept abreast of with Vogue magazine. She also knit items for family and was known to be a marvelous cook.

In the late 1970s and '80s as the movement for Japanese American redress and reparations grew, she became a full partner in her husband's efforts to launch a class action suit against the United States government on behalf of the 126,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry who were wrongfully imprisoned during WWII. Their years of determination resulted in a landmark Supreme Court case, William Hohri et al v. the United States of America (1986). The movement, which included countless others, led to the achievement of justice for Japanese Americans, including redress payments of $20,000 to individual internees. This period also brought forth two grandchildren and the blossoming of new creative work in crewel embroidery and pattern making.

The last three decades of her life were spent on the West Coast with family and friends. She and William moved to Los Angeles in 1994 and her life eventually became more focused on caring for him until his death from  Alzheimer's in 2010. She remained engaged with the world around her, enjoying shows at the theater and exhibitions at museums and galleries, often making a bold fashion statement. She also enjoyed traveling to national parks and to the East Coast for family visits.

Yuriko Hohri's internal strength gave her a stature that belied her petite size. Her contributions to the greater good and to her family came from a place of caring that arose from her keen observations and genuine desire to make a difference. She was true to herself and full of joy.

She is survived by daughters Sasha Hohri and Sylvia Hohri, grandchildren Otsu Hohri Yee, Tsuya Hohri Yee and Willinzy Jonri, and great grandchildren Dylan Chang, Mia Chang, Dean Chang, Ryu Martinez Yee and Yuemi Martinez Yee. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in the memory of Yuriko Hohri be made to the American Friends Service Committee. Service to be held at Fukui Mortuary November 4, 3 pm.