Michiko McAndrew

Michiko McAndrew (nee Suzuya), daughter of Masao Suzuya and Aiko Hidaka, born in Saga, Japan, aged 74, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loving family on March 11th, 2023 in Bellevue, WA. A native of Japan, she earned her university degree as a Medical Technologist from Nagoya University. Later married and lived in Washington state where she called home for 45 years.

She spent many years in the travel industry and took her family on memorable vacations throughout the US, Japan, Canada and Europe. She was known for her incredible loyalty and strong work ethic. She often received acknowledgements for serving above and beyond, being friendly and pleasant and she proudly never used a sick day of work in more than 17 years at United Airlines.

Her true passion was her love for nature and the outdoors. An avid hiker for the past 20 years, she joined local hiking groups such as the Issaquah Alps Trail Club, Snoqualmie Valley Trails Club and the Mountaineers. She was a year-round, all-terrain hiker, who went on countless hikes, including steep slope scrambles, snowshoeing and pickaxe hikes in the ice. Scenic Mt. Rainer was one of her favorite places to explore.

Once retired, she grew deeper into her hobbies, taking leadership hike classes, becoming an avid birder and joined the Eastside Audubon Society and Washington Native Plant Society. At the University of Washington, she took botany and biology classes and could impressively identify local flora, fauna, and nonvascular plants.

Her whimsical sense of humor, fierce independence and ability to make others laugh and smile will be deeply missed. She was a loving mother to her kids Tom McAndrew and Lori McAndrew, and “Nana” to seven grandchildren: Samuel, Olivia, Maggie & Lucy Mezquita and Bella, Jacob & Lucas McAndrew. She was tremendously proud of her kids and grandchildren, spending time with them as much as possible, and was deeply loved.

A service will be held in the summer of 2023 and we ask that anyone who would like to be invited send an email with their name, phone and how they knew Michiko to [email protected]. Please share photos.

In lieu of flowers we ask that donations be made to Cascadia College Foundation in order to support a special project to honor her by helping future families improving English as a Second anguage (ESL), computer literacy, high school completion, running start and other college level classes to local community in her honor.