Mary Adams Obituary, Death -Mary Adams Urashima promoted the history and culture of Japanese Americans. She fought to preserve Huntington Beach’s Furuta Family Farm from the 1920s and the Japanese Presbyterian Mission in Wintersburg. Urashima, 62, passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. Mark Bixby, a longtime friend, and preservationist, said Mary was kind with her time. She was tolerant and capable of ignoring interruptions. Locals mourn her passing. According to friends, Urashima cherished Japanese culture and history. Her books include “Our Journey to America: The Furutas” and “Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach.” She discussed women whose husbands and fathers were held after Pearl Harbor during a panel discussion at the Japanese American National Museum.
Urashima was well-versed in Japanese culture, according to Gina Clayton-Tarvin, friend and president of the Ocean View School District board. She had also traveled to Japan frequently, she added. She kept Newland House as a work of performance art (Museum). Fighting for Wintersburg was Urashima. Wintersburg was a part of Huntington Beach’s past, according to Clayton-Tarvin. At the turn of the century, the 4.5-acre Wintersburg property on the corner of Warner Avenue and Nichols Lane belonged to the Furuta family. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it is the only National Treasure in Orange County.
The head of the Historic Wintersburg Preservation Task Force claims that Wintersburg is a unique example of a Japanese cultural site still in existence.
Everyone on this property was impacted by exclusion, alien land laws, World War II, and forced confinement. Urashima claimed they came back to rehabilitate. This building miraculously endured. Urashima filed a lawsuit against Republic Services Inc., the property’s owner, to stop it from razing Wintersburg to make room for a waste transfer station expansion. Campus odors worried the district. 2017 was over.
“Mary was determined to preserve the historic Japanese community memory and experience of Wintersburg as a small Christian community,” Ocean View district board member John Briscoe said at the time. Clayton-Tarvin is optimistic that the district will be able to protect Urashima’s property. We’ll always protect historic Wintersburg, the woman remarked. The situation in Huntington Beach is improving. The legacy of Mary will inspire greatness. Son of Urashima lives. Clayton-Tarvin is updating Facebook even though she hasn’t organized a memorial.