Our Mom passed away peacefully on Saturday, July 13, at 5:45 am at St. Francis Hospice in Nuuanu. In early March of this year, she was diagnosed with a treatable but incurable condition. She decided that she did not want to pursue any treatment options.
As she has always been a very private person, she also chose not to let anyone know about her condition, not even her extended family. Two months ago, she asked to go into hospice care and she was placed at the Nuuanu facility. There she was well cared for by their excellent staff and made comfortable during her final days.
Back in 2009, while she was still well, she let us know that when her time came, she did not want to have a funeral service and also no public obituary. We are respecting her wishes and not having a funeral service. We plan to place her urn in a niche in the new "Garden of Peace" Columbarium at Nuuanu Memorial Park also per her wishes. It is still under construction and expected to open in November or December this year.
Mom was born on December 31, 1934 in Honolulu to Charles Shigeichi and Kiyoko Aoki, the oldest of four children. She grew up in a Japanese camp in Kakaako, and graduated from McKinley High School and the University of Hawaii. She was an educator with the State of Hawaii, primarily teaching kindergarten through fourth grade at Kapunahala Elementary, Kahaluu Elementary, and Ahuimanu Elementary, from which she retired in 1989. She and Dad were married on June 18, 1960 and first lived in the Makiki and Kapahulu areas, before purchasing their house in Kaneohe, where they have lived for 50 years. They have two daughters, Carolyn and Jan. In 1993, her grandson Ryan was born. Carolyn and Darrell were living on Kauai and were unable to find a qualified babysitter when it was time to go back to work, so for six months Mom would fly out to Kauai Sunday nights and stay through Thursday night to take care of Ryan while both his parents worked. This continued until he was one, and "GM" and "GP" would also take care of him during school breaks and vacations, either on Kauai or at their home on Oahu, finding activities to keep Ryan busy.
As she has always been a very private person, she also chose not to let anyone know about her condition, not even her extended family. Two months ago, she asked to go into hospice care and she was placed at the Nuuanu facility. There she was well cared for by their excellent staff and made comfortable during her final days.
Back in 2009, while she was still well, she let us know that when her time came, she did not want to have a funeral service and also no public obituary. We are respecting her wishes and not having a funeral service. We plan to place her urn in a niche in the new "Garden of Peace" Columbarium at Nuuanu Memorial Park also per her wishes. It is still under construction and expected to open in November or December this year.
Mom was born on December 31, 1934 in Honolulu to Charles Shigeichi and Kiyoko Aoki, the oldest of four children. She grew up in a Japanese camp in Kakaako, and graduated from McKinley High School and the University of Hawaii. She was an educator with the State of Hawaii, primarily teaching kindergarten through fourth grade at Kapunahala Elementary, Kahaluu Elementary, and Ahuimanu Elementary, from which she retired in 1989. She and Dad were married on June 18, 1960 and first lived in the Makiki and Kapahulu areas, before purchasing their house in Kaneohe, where they have lived for 50 years. They have two daughters, Carolyn and Jan. In 1993, her grandson Ryan was born. Carolyn and Darrell were living on Kauai and were unable to find a qualified babysitter when it was time to go back to work, so for six months Mom would fly out to Kauai Sunday nights and stay through Thursday night to take care of Ryan while both his parents worked. This continued until he was one, and "GM" and "GP" would also take care of him during school breaks and vacations, either on Kauai or at their home on Oahu, finding activities to keep Ryan busy.
Mom and Dad also enjoyed traveling to Japan many times, and did almost all the tours that Tohoku Travel offered. But Mom was mostly a homebody, enjoying watching Korean dramas. Even though she never touched the computer and said she was technically challenged, she was a whiz at programming the VCR to tape all her shows, even a week or more in advance when she was traveling. Mom was kind and generous, always worrying about others and thinking about ways to help them. She enjoyed sewing, crocheting, and various crafts, as well as word puzzles to keep her mind sharp. Many people still have the items she sewed - sashiko embroidered bags, travel wallets, hanging towels and embroidered dish cloths, as well as baby shirts, bibs, burp pads and quilts, because they were sewn so well. She sold her items at the HSTA craft fair at Ben Parker School for many years, and customers would look for her at her customary booth. When she gave up sewing for craft fairs, she still sewed to keep busy, always looking for new projects. She also donated her items every year to Kamehameha Schools Ho'olaulea's Country Store, as a way to "give back" to the school that gave Ryan so many opportunities.
Love you, Mom, and thank you for everything you did for us, often putting our needs and wants ahead of your own. Hope that you are finally at peace.
2 comments:
This is beautiful, Carolyn. Thank you for blogging this so people can pay respects, even online, to your Mom. I have kitchen towels and hotpads that she sewed and embroidered and will cherish them. It was so thoughtful of her to send them along with Jan and Craig on their trips to Eureka. She and your Dad went shopping for me at Marukai, too, and she carefully packed everything for Jan to bring to California, even slipping in a tofu cookbook and cooler bag because I could use that kind of cooking help! THANK YOU for your thoughtfulness, Mrs. Baba! I remember that she clipped a newspaper ad for Asia Now (this was more than 20 years ago now!) and had it hanging on the refrigerator because my picture was on it. My own mom and dad hadn't thought to do this! She was so supportive in her quiet and assured way. I am so grateful for all she did and wish I could have told her in person. I hope she knew how much warmth she showed me with her kindness. Thanks for making a place to share this, Carolyn! - Lori Taketa
Thanks so much Lori for your remembrances...it means a lot!
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