Aiji Alvin Uchiyama

Aiji A. Uchiyama, age 97, a resident of Pasadena, California for more than 68 years, passed peacefully on November 6, 2020. He was born October 13, 1923 in Seattle, Washington to Hichiro and Sakae Uchiyama who emigrated from Japan in the early 1900s.

As a child, Aiji enjoyed fishing and spending time with his father at the family’s shoe shop. In his teen years, he spent time studying, working on a strawberry farm, and playing baseball and basketball with friends. At the start of World War II, he spent a brief time in the internment camp. He then left the camp and joined the US Army to the end of the War. After the war, he attended Brigham Young University in Utah where he graduated with a BS in electrochemical engineering. He moved to Chicago, IL, and worked an internship at the University of Chicago. Shortly thereafter, he married Mary Kawaguchi of San Francisco and a year later had their first son. He landed a job in Southern California which later lead him to a position with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. In his 30 plus years with JPL, he worked with the unmanned space program for Vanguard, Explorer, Mariner, Ranger, Voyager, and Surveyor. He felt as though he was on-board those spacecraft as they were sent into space.

When he retired, he and his wife Mary traveled the world a couple of times over, saw the sights, and experienced the people, culture, dress, and food of many countries.

Aiji is preceded in death by Mary, his wife of 67 years. He is survived by a sister, three sons, grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, great-greatgrandchildren, extended family, and dear friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pasadena Buddhist Temple, the Mary S Uchiyama scholarship fund at Pasadena City College, or a charity of your choice.