Elaine Keiko Houston

Elaine is survived by her Auntie Janet; her sister: Vicki Uyeda; her eldest son: Patrick; her middle son: Brian and his spouse: Tammy; her youngest son: David and his spouse: Angel; her six grandchildren: Sienna, Danica, Logan, Rosemary, Gloria, and Thomas; her dog: Suki; as well as beloved cousins and dear friends.

Elaine was born on October 23, 1944 at the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in Wyoming to Arthur and Reiko Uyeda. Elaine’s family was allowed to return home to Loomis, CA, where she grew up on the family fruit farm with her parents and her younger sister, Vicki. Elaine attended Del Oro High School where she would cheer her classmates on as the school’s mascot, the Golden Eagle. During her school years Elaine was also a gymnast and a Rainbow Girl. She spent her summers working on the family farm, learning to drive on their tractor and also having fun with her cousins and neighborhood friends. After high school, Elaine continued her studies and became a graduate of Heald College in Sacramento.

While working for her first post-graduate job as an executive secretary at the U.S. Probation Office in Sacramento, Elaine met and married Michael Houston at the age of 22. In the early 1970’s Elaine moved to K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base in Marquette County, Michigan where Michael would be stationed for three years. After returning from Michigan, Elaine and Michael lived for a short time in Davis, CA where their sons Patrick and Brian were born. Their youngest son David was born shortly after moving to Petaluma, CA to be closer to Michael’s career in the San Francisco Bay Area. Elaine and Michael would later divorce.

After being a dedicated full-time mother for about 10 years, Elaine would go on to spend nearly 20 years as a preschool teacher at Little Shepherd Preschool in Petaluma. Elaine later spent a short time working retail at Petite Sophisticate Women’s Clothing and as a secretary for the Petaluma Queen ferry boat. She then spent several years as a secretary for Wollborg Michelson Recruiting until she moved to Rocklin, CA in 2005 to be closer to her aging parents.

Elaine graduated from Mom to Bachan in 2007, when her first grandchild, Sienna, was born. She was as dedicated as a bachan as she was a mother, often commuting from Rocklin to her son Brian’s home in Benicia to spend days at a time helping with her grandchildren any way she could. Over the years, Bachan eagerly attended countless recitals and sporting events to cheer all her grandchildren on. In 2022, Elaine last settled into the Greenhaven neighborhood in Sacramento to be closer to her Auntie Janet and also, of course, her newest and youngest grandchildren.

Throughout her life Elaine developed many strong and lasting friendships. She loved to visit with, call, and text her friends, often to brag about her grandchildren. Elaine was an excellent cook and baker, famous for her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and her many varieties of pies. She was a skilled seamstress, creating clothes and costumes for herself, sons, and grandchildren from scratch. She never lost her farm girl mentality, enjoying gardening and taking in numerous animals from cats to dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, fish, cockatiels, chickens, ducks, lizards, and more. She also loved to watch the Warriors, Kings, 49ers, and Raiders.

Elaine believed strongly in family bonds. She was a central figure in the family, often the organizer of family functions and loved to host gatherings for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. For Elaine, everything took a backseat to being a most dedicated mother and bachan. She lived and breathed her sons and grandchildren. Her family was her identity. She will be missed terribly.