Masayo Fujima (née Takemasa)

November 15, 1925 – May 14, 2020 Masayo died peacefully in her sleep at home. Masayo was born in Tokyo, Japan to her late parents Kin and Juzo. She was the eldest girl of six. Masayo was an energetic, bold, independent, and very stylish woman. During WW2, with her brothers away, she began working in the family paint and hardware shop. While riding her bike on the job, the local paper took and printed her picture. She was quite proud of this! In this time Masayo met and married Shaw, an insurance company man, and her true love. They had a daughter together in Tokyo – Yoshiko. In 1968 Masayo immigrated to Canada with her family. Here, she worked hard as a professional dressmaker and cultivated incredible personal style. She expertly made and repaired many beautiful pieces and Hallowe’en costumes for her family on her Singer treadle sewing machine. Masayo loved learning and visiting new places. She found and traveled on her own to ESL classes for over a decade in Oakridge. She enjoyed the class trips they took together to Toronto landmarks - although standing atop the glass floor at the CN Tower was understandably unnerving for her! Masayo was very diligent with her ESL homework and equally diligent with her grandchildren Hart and Oliver’s Japanese school homework. She often walked through Toronto festivals (Taste of the Danforth was a favorite) and to the boardwalk at the Beach. She loved to travel – taking each of her grandchildren to Japan when they turned six and meeting her younger sister Yasuko (Tokyo, Japan) and her niece Yoko in Hawaii, Chicago, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Masayo was quick to laugh and approached others with gentleness and curiosity. She loved and was beloved by her ESL teacher and many classmates and friends. She loved visiting the blooming cherry blossoms in High Park with Yoshiko, chatting, and laughing with Shaw, spending time making things and eating with Hart and Oliver, and watching The Price is Right. Masayo was an avid reader of Japanese books of different genres. She wrote and returned letters to her dear ones – sometimes including pressed fall leaves. In these last few months, she enjoyed listening to Fats Waller and Big Band Jazz with Shaw, Yoshiko, and her son-in law Mirek. She never lost her affinity for sparkly accessories. Masayo almost always had a big, joyful smile on her face. Masayo will be profoundly missed by her husband of 64 years Shaw, Yoshiko, Mirek, Hart and Oliver and their partners Justin and Marci, Yasuko, Yoko, her nephew Tsuyoshi, and Erica who was like a third granddaughter to Masayo. We would like to invite you, should you wish, to share a memory either on this forum or privately. No flowers nor koden, please and thank you.