Obituary: Uemura inspired Hamline University philosophy students

In his Hamline University classroom, Joseph Norio Uemura eschewed lectures and textbooks in favor of close readings of the ancient philosophers and lively debates. These discussions often carried over to his Roseville living room, where he and his students dissected Plato and Cicero for hours over tea.

Uemura, who taught philosophy at Hamline for 28 years, died on March 3. He was 89. He wrote five books, inspired dozens of students to pursue careers in teaching, and cultivated an appreciation for deep conversation in young people and peers.

"He got the greatest joy and satisfaction from seeing his students carry a love for philosophy — a love for thinking seriously about things — into their lives," said his daughter, Charissa Keiko Uemura.

Uemura grew up in Denver in a family of Japanese immigrants who also had seven daughters. His father, a Methodist minister, instilled a knack for calm reflection that sustained the family in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, when an angry crowd broke all the stained glass windows of his father's church.

Uemura's interest in philosophy grew during his studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He was ordained in 1949, briefly serving as a traveling minister. He then won a fellowship that allowed him to pursue a doctorate in philosophy at Columbia University.

After stints teaching in Utah and Iowa, Uemura moved to Roseville with his first wife, Maye, and two children in 1966. At that time, he was the sole faculty member of the philosophy department at Hamline in St. Paul.

Verna Ehret took Uemura's ancient philosophy class as a freshman in the late 1980s. At first, she was intimidated by a teaching style that put students' takes on classic texts front and center. He gave students an appreciation for the humor in his beloved Plato and prodded them to elaborate on arguments with a playful, "Is that what you really think?"

On Sunday evenings, Uemura's senior seminar students gathered for tea, sweets and hourslong discussions on the plush couches in his living room. For Uemura's two children, these gatherings were a fixture of growing up. So were lengthy conversations that pushed them to reflect on their own preferences, from a painting they liked to their choice of career.

"He was always trying to make us think more deeply," said Uemura's son, Wesley Sasaki-Uemura, who teaches history at the University of Utah.

Uemura accepted invitations to lead church services as a guest preacher, deliver eulogies and perform weddings. He was a "uniter," said longtime friend Bob Skottegaard.

Uemura and Skottegaard, who taught philosophy at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, met during a two-month philosophy seminar at Brown University in 1974. After seminar sessions, they watched Watergate coverage on television and talked, with Uemura bringing up Plato's low opinion of career politicians. "His focus was never to become a big name in philosophy," said Skottegaard. "Getting people to think was the most important thing for him."

In 1993, a year before he retired, Uemura received the first Professor of the Year award by the board representing 122 United Methodist colleges, universities and seminaries. In retirement, he taught classes for senior citizens at the University of Minnesota and traveled extensively with Nancy Jane Whiteside, whom he married four years after Maye's death in 2000.

Mila Koumpilova • 612-673-4781