Obituary of Victoria P. Oshiro

Vici Oshiro was born August 3, 1929 in Wilmington, Delaware to Dr. Frank Wilson Parker and Ruth Margaret Talbot Parker. She grew up in Delaware, Pennsylvania, with brother Robert (Bob) and sister Jean. She graduated high school in Maryland then earned a Geography degree from Oberlin College in 1950.  In 1952 she married Seiki Oshiro in Washington, D.C. They lived in Washington, D.C., Falls Church, Virginia, and Waldwick, New Jersey. In 1964, the family moved to Burnsville, Minnesota.

She enjoyed reading, jigsaw puzzles, swimming across lakes, knitting, solitaire and road trips to Pennsylvania and the Rocky Mountains. She and Seiki spent many trips out west exploring the geology and visiting WWII WRA Camps sites that FDR’s Executive Order created for the Americans of Japanese Ancestry.

Vici was active in the League of Women Voters beginning in the early 1950s. In Burnsville, she became increasingly active in civic affairs, serving on the school board of Independent School District 191 from 1966 to 1970, managing DFL campaigns, and running for the Minnesota Legislature.  

She established the Minneapolis office for the Bread For the World Coalition, also serving on their national board, in part because of her father Frank Parker’s Green Revolution work overseas for the Agency for International Development. She found this experience revealed her self-described naiveté about suffering in the world.

Most recently, she was an advocate of the concepts of “reduce, reuse, recycle” and “live simply so that others may simply live”.  She learned a lot about sustainability and economics and was striving to begin conversations about fundamental changes to our economic system so that more people have the opportunity to thrive. She asserted that she was not a supporter state socialism, rather, that we needed to create a new approach.

She and Seiki have four children: Greg, Joanne (Wells Matthews), Karen (Brian Ewoldt), and Becki (Donnie Miller), and four grandchildren, Laura, Duncan, Eric, and Lilliana. She is also survived by brother Bob Parker and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorial gathering from 2-4 pm on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at Cremation Society of Minnesota, 7110 France Ave. S., Edina, MN 55435 (952)924-4100.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to one of the following organizations:

Hunger - Heifer International

https://www.heifer.org/gift-catalog/give-where-needed-most-donation.html

Sustainability- Project Drawdown

https://www.drawdown.org/donate

Education - Foundation 191

http://new.foundation191.org/sponsorship/

She was also very involved with the Quakers and the DFL. If you would rather donate to these organizations we know she would appreciate that too.