Rev. Junjo Tsumura
TSUMURA, REV. JUNJO, 87, passed away on July 22, 2012. The San Jose resident was born Sept. 15, 1924. Rev. Tsumura is survived by his wife of 57 years, Teruko; his son, Ken; his daughter, Jayne (Kenneth Tan); his grandchildren, Kyle and Kelly; and his brother, Ed. Born near Osaka, Japan in 1924, he first came to the U.S. in 1925 with his missionary parents. He returned to Japan in 1934, finished his schooling at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, and returned to the U.S. in 1952.
He initially served as assistant minister at the Sacramento Buddhist Church. In 1956, he was appointed minister of the Watsonville Buddhist Church, where he formed lasting relationships over 16 years. In the early ‘70s, he became Executive Assistant to the Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of America.
From 1975-82, he was at San Mateo Buddhist Temple; then became head minister (Rinban) at the San Jose Betsuin, achieving one of his life goals, since his father, the late Rev. Tokujo Tsumura, had also served there in the 1930s.
Following San Jose, he was appointed to the Monterey Peninsula Buddhist Temple and finally became Bishop (Socho) of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii in 1987. He retired in 1990 and returned to San Jose where he volunteered his services as a substitute minister and guest speaker.
His congregants remember Rev. Tsumura for his warm down-to-earth sermons, his compassionate nature and his consistently humble demeanor.
Until the end, he was an avid San Francisco Giants fan and was elated to see them win the World Series in 2010.
A memorial service will be held Friday, Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. at the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, 640 N. Fifth St.
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