Anaheim : Fujishige Funeral Is Scheduled Wednesday

Funeral services for Masao Fujishige, a longtime Anaheim strawberry farmer, will take place Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Orange County Buddhist Church, 909 S. Dale St. in Anaheim.

Family members found Fujishige dead in his living room Wednesday night of what police said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

His family said the 61-year-old California native had killed himself because he was despondent over health problems and a legal battle against the City of Anaheim, which is in the process of acquiring part of the family-owned farm on Harbor Boulevard in furtherance of a high-rise development project.

They said that a stroke about three years ago left Fujishige feeling sometimes weak and not strong enough to cope with his fight against the city. And a “ringing in his head”--which came and went and sometimes kept him awake at nights--was too much for him to handle, his wife, Carolyn, said.

His family said they did not blame the city for his death, although they called the battle to keep the farmland--now valuable real estate only blocks from the Anaheim Convention Center and Disneyland--a contributing factor to his depression.

Fujishige is survived by his wife and children, Beth, Joyce, Donna and Brian, as well as his brother, Hiroshi.