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In memory of

Chieko Takasugi

Tacoma, WA

1931 - April 20, 2021

1931 - Apr 20, 2021

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Our beloved mother, Chieko Takasugi, passed away at 90 on April 20, 2021. She was a loving and kind mother who always found ways help others. She lost her husband, Shoji, in 2017 but continued to live independently on a 3 acre hobby farm for 2 years. Then, she moved to an independent living retirement home in Tacoma near Point Defiance Park. She was a strong and gentle woman who survived 4 cancers thanks to her faith in God and her will to heal herself by finding natural remedies to augment the cancer therapies she was given. She loved flower gardening, birds, music, cooking, sewing, and exercising. She had 3 children and 2 grandchildren: Rex (Joyce), Dan (Julie), and Christine (Frank); and Traci and Thomas. She lived to see her grandchildren grow up and finish college.

Chieko was born in Japan in 1931 in a small town near Mt. Fuji. Her childhood was interrupted by WWII, so she spent her teenage years helping her family survive the war. Fortunately, her family did not live in a large city and her hometown was spared from the bombings. After the war, her aunt in the US introduced a young US Air Force (USAF) officer, a Japanese-American from Utah, to Chieko’s family. Shoji courted Chieko and they married with a Japanese wedding.

Chieko experienced culture shock as she took on her new role as an officer’s wife in the US. She embraced the challenge and quickly learned enough English to socialize and raise her children, and taught herself to cook American foods. The USAF moved our family often: Idaho, Wisconsin, Washington DC, California, and Japan. Fortunately, 3 of Shoji’s USAF assignments were in Japan so the family could visit with Chieko's family. Our family crossed the US by car several times, seeing most of the major National Parks and visiting friends and relatives. She was active in the local Baptist churches where our family lived: teaching children, participating in Bible Study, and singing. Our parents supported many missionaries over the years, most of them serving in Japan.

Chieko loved to sew and was such an accomplished dressmaker: she made herself Vogue designer dresses for both of her sons’ weddings. When her children were teenagers, she became a working partner in a curtain/drapes business. She loved to learn new things and ask questions; under different circumstances she could have easily become a teacher or a musician.

Chieko touched the lives of so many with her kindness and generosity. Even the nurses and doctors who cared for her in her final days, knew they were in the presence of a special soul. As she would have said, she is now free from her old body and united with friends and loved ones who preceded her to heaven. She has a new body and eternal life!

Please share your memories of Chieko so we can celebrate her life and grieve our loss together.

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