Margaret Hatsume Kumagai

Margaret Hatsume Kumagai, loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, mother-in-law, and friend passed away peacefully in her sleep on September 28, 2020 at age 97 in Irvine California with her loving daughter and son-in-law attending to her comfort after living with Alzheimer’s Dementia for several years.  Margaret lived a full and long life through the great depression, WWII, and the Japanese internment camps.  She was a talented artist and an avid golfer. 

Margaret, the second of six children, was born on September 4, 1923 to Jutaro and Mashi (Hayami) Horikawa in Riverside California where she grew up and attended school in a rural farming community until the Horikawa family was relocated to the Poston Relocation Center in Arizona during the Second World War.  Upon release, Margaret moved to the greater Chicago area where she found employment.  Margaret loved shopping, going to the theatre, and the movies with her girlfriends during her time off from work.  While in Chicago she met her future husband Joey Yasuo Kumagai in church.  The two were married on July 3, 1948.

After the war Margaret and Joey settled in Ohio where Margaret worked putting Joey through Case Institute of Technology.  After Joey graduated they were blessed with two loving children, Nancy and Paul.  In 1959 the family moved to California, and except for a year in Wisconsin they resided in Southern California.

Margaret loved art and was always trying her hand at different forms including drawing, painting, block printing, ceramics, and even stained glass.  She attended Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles at the pinnacle of her pursuits and became accomplished at charcoal drawings and oil paintings.

As much as Margaret loved art her main passion had to be golf!  Margaret golfed whenever she could and even scored a hole in one at Rancho San Joaquin Golf Course, which was published in the Orange County Register, a golfer’s dream.  She was a member of the SeaCliff Country Club but she enjoyed playing courses anywhere she could get a tee time.

In between keeping the household and golf Margaret loved to tend to her garden where it seems everything she touched magically grew.  Her garden ranged from vegetables, fruits, fruit trees, to beautiful cymbidium orchids like her mother used to grow.   Whatever Margaret touched flourished, she was well known as a “healer” bringing family members plants back to life.

Margaret was also known as an amazing cook, like all the women in her family.  A few of the family favorites include her Carrot Cake, Pressed Duck, and her delicious Pies.  Margaret loved her desserts and we loved her making them.

Margaret was preceded in death by her father and mother Jutaro and Mashi Horikawa, her brothers and sisters Jack Horikawa, Henry Horikawa, Ruth Minato, Mina Goto, Jane Murakami and her husband Joey Kumagai.  She is survived by her daughter Nancy Ann Kumagai (Thom) Belford, her son Paul Wayne (Dena) Kumagai, her grandsons T. Andrew Belford, Kyle Anson Belford, and Christopher Joseph “C.J.” Kumagai and her great grandsons, Alexander Makoto Belford, Nicholas Akira Belford, and Canon Israel Salas-Belford.

Margaret was a very giving and kind person and always eager to help others.  Our family loves her dearly and deeply misses her.

The family will be bringing Margaret back to the city of Riverside where she was born, per her wishes, to be interred with her husband Joey in a Columbarium Niche at the Riverside National Cemetery 22495 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside, Ca 92513. Phone: (951) 653-8417.  Niche Location: Section CP Row F Site 36.

Due to COVID no service will be held at this time.  We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall.

If you would like to honor Margaret’s memory, the Kumagai and Belford families suggest a donation in Margaret’s memory to Alzheimer’s Orange County at https://www.alzoc.org/get-involved/donate/.

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