Shizuko Sue Lofton papers

Shizuko Sue Lofton was born Shizuko Hirano to the only Japanese family living in Big Sandy, Montana in 1914. Lofton graduated from high school in Belt, Montana as valedictorian. Due to financial limitations, Lofton was only able to attend the University of Washington for one year. At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, Lofton was living in Los Angeles, California, was married to Fred Hideo Uyehara, a Nisei. They were the parents of a young daughter, Linda Kuniye Uyehara (Hoffman).

During World War II, the family was assigned to Manzanar Relocation Center and then Minidoka Relocation Center. Lofton’s husband, Fred, would eventually enlist in the United States Army and wound up in Japan as a translator. Lofton and her daughter moved to Chicago, Illinois in April of 1943, after their release from the camps. The two would later join Lofton’s husband in Japan for a two year period. Eventually, Lofton and her daughter moved back to Chicago, Illinois and Lofton then divorced Uyehara.

Lofton found work as a secretary to the dean of education at Roosevelt University. While employed at Roosevelt, Lofton received her master’s degree in education and eventually became an assistant dean in the College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences. She was also an adviser to the students of the University. Lofton retired from Roosevelt in 1979. She married her second husband, Nathan Lofton, a Chicago school principal, in the late 1950s.

To remain active after her retirement from Roosevelt University, Lofton took up tai chi and helped start the White Crane Wellness Center for seniors. Lofton continued to teach tai chi to the seniors until 2002. She died on August 5, 2007.

Source: Lofton, Shizuko Sue