In the early hours on April 6th, 2026, Mary Kageyama Nomura, the celebrated “SONGBIRD OF MANZANAR” passed away peacefully at the age of 100, at her home in Huntington Beach.
Mary was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 29, 1925. She was the fifth of six children born to Tomitaro and Machi Kageyama.
Mary’s mother, an exceptional musician and teacher, instilled in her young daughter, a love of music and encouraged her natural talents, often putting her onstage with her adult students. Young Mary grew up surrounded by music.
However, her childhood was not an easy one. By the time Mary was seven years old, she had lost both of her parents and one of her older brothers, Isamu. After the death of her father, when Mary was barely 5 years old, Mary’s mother married Gentaro Fukawa and together, they had a son, Bill.
In a difficult financial decision, Gentaro decided to take Bill to live in Japan. Thanks to the resilience of Mary’s older brother Frank and older sister Fumi, Mary and her other siblings, older sister Mae and younger sister Tillie, managed to stay together and take care of each other.
But, their lives would soon be disrupted with the hysteria of WWII, when Mary and her siblings were sent to Manzanar Relocation Center in Inyo County. Mary, a fifteen year old teenager, found herself in a strange new world. But her love of music helped her find her calling. It wasn’t long before her singing talents made her a much in demand vocalist at Camp functions, earning her the nickname “The Songbird of Manzanar”.
It was at one of these functions that Mary met her future husband Shiro “Shi” Nomura, with whom Mary was happily married for 55 years. Together, they started a thriving business in Garden Grove, Shi’s Fish Mart, a first of its kind full service Japanese grocery and fish market.
Mary never pursued a career in singing, in spite of her extraordinary talent. Instead, she opted for the job of mother and homemaker. Her reputation, however, made her an oft requested guest vocalist for community events, traveling all around Southern California, San Francisco and even touring Japan with The Grateful Crane Ensemble.
Mary is survived by son Alan (Yoshiko), daughter Mallory Saul (Tom), daughter Lisa Ishibashi (Gerald), son Norman (Dorothy) and daughter Nina Williams (Larry), twelve grandchildren, eleven great grandchildren, sister Mae Kakehashi, half-brother Bill Fukawa and many nieces and nephews.
The Family would like to express their deep gratitude to Angels Hospice and Portals of Peace for guiding them through this most difficult time of loss and transition.
A Celebration of Life is being planned for a future date.