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Samuel Y. Maeda
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Samuel Y. Maeda

A graveside service was held Friday at the Winton Cemetery for Samuel Y. Maeda, 98, of Hughson. He died of pneumonia on May 11 at Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock.

Allen Mortuary handled arrangements.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

Born in November 1909 in San Francisco to Japanese immigrants, Mr. Maeda was a longtime Livingston fruit grower. He moved with his family to Livingston in 1910, where his father began farming as part of the Yamato Colony. He attended Livingston elementary and high schools, and was a 1928 graduate of Livingston High School. He attended the University of California, Davis, earning a two-year certificate in pomology. He returned to Livingston in 1930 to farm with his father. At the outbreak of World War II, he and wife Yuri were relocated to the Amache Relocation Center in southeast Colorado, as part of the wartime evacuation of west coast Japanese Americans and their immigrant parents. Shortly after arriving in Colorado, Sam and Yuri moved out of the camp to work for local farmers in Lamar, Colo., and subsequently farmed with other evacuees in Grand Junction, Colo. They reclaimed their Livingston property after World War II and returned to farming. Sam continued farming tree fruit until 1995.

Mr. Maeda was a longtime member of the Livingston Rotary Club, the Livingston United Methodist Church, the Livingston Farmers' Association and was a director of Blue Anchor, Inc., a fresh fruit marketing cooperative.

In April 2006, he and Yuri moved to the Samaritan Village in Hughson.

He leaves behind his wife of 60 years, Yuri Fujii Maeda of Hughson; his son, Lloyd of Citrus Heights; and his sister, Miyoko of San Francisco. He was preceded in death by brother Harvey.

-Ceres (Calif.) Courier /May 21, 2008