Mel Tsuji

Family: Widow; two sons, Eugene Tsuji of Vietnam and Rodney Kageyama of Los Angeles; brother, George Inouye of Yuba City; sister, Lily Moritsugu of St. Louis.

City of residence: Yuba City.

Occupation: I was a housewife and previously a cosmetologist.

Hobbies, interests: Gardening.

What brought you to the Yuba-Sutter area? I was a junior at Woodland High School when my family was shipped to a Japanese internment camp in Colorado during WWII. After the war ended I returned to California. My husband and brother decided to farm tomatoes and we had a farm betweenYuba City and Live Oak. After that, we moved to a peach orchard near Hutchinson Road in Yuba City.

Place of worship you attend: Grace United Methodist Church.

How long have you attended? As long as I have lived in this area.

What is the importance of faith in your life? It is the basis of how we react to everyone in our everyday life. It's how we live out our respect for each other. Without respect for each other, life is sad. My faith carries me day to day because it is the basis for living. It's my faith that has gotten me through the hard times.

How do you live out your faith? I just try to do things right. In your daily life try to do things right without trodding on someone.

Faith in Action appears Saturdays. It features a member of a church, temple or mosque and the importance of their faith. To suggest someone to be featured, contact Faith & Family coordinator Larry Badger at 749-4776 or lbadger@appealdemocrat.com.