Miyako - Ohno

Miyako Ohno, passed away peacefully on January 15th, 2020, aged 87 years in Campbell, California at Sakura Gardens Residential Care home. Her indomitable spirit, gentle kindness and generosity remained intact until the very end. She will be missed greatly, but no longer has to suffer the ravages of end-stage Parksinson’s disease.

Miyako was born on March 19, 1932 in Oita-ken, Japan, youngest child in a family with a sister 20 years her senior and around 10 years prior to the end of WWII. She was forced at an early age to be independent and strong willed.

In her early years, along with her niece Sumiko, who was her same age and like a sister to her, she trained in the ways of Japanese Dance, Music as part of becoming a beautiful Geisha.

She emigrated to the US in 1963 and very soon after bore her daughter Mitsuko. She ventured into multiple business enterprises through the years, always being her own boss, but her most prominent was establishing Miyako Construction in San Francisco. She was proud of the many residential and business roofing projects she did in the S.F. Bay area.

Like many people of her generation – her work and her customers were her primary concern. She truly believed that she was going to pass with hammer, brush, or reciprocating saw in hand. That’s just who she was. Unfortunately, the degenerative nature of Parkinson’s Disease robbed her of this. Her customers were on her mind until her last days.

In her free time, she enjoyed performing with the Nishikawa classical Japanese dance group. She also enjoyed spending time with her family and extended family in San Jose and Gilroy for holidays, birthdays, and special events, always with much food, cake, cookies and gifts in tow.

Although her motor skills and then finally her skills to communicate and talk declined over the final years, she was strong and her mind was always working. She always knew when it was time to deliver cakes and food to her customers and family. The disease never defined her, and she was concerned about the wellbeing of others until the very end.

She was preceded in death by her father Kyujiro, mother Tsune, sister Hisako and niece Sumiko. She is survived by her daughter, Mitsuko, son-in-law Timothy and grandchildren Brendan and Briana. A traditional Buddhist service will be held on March 28th , 2020 at the Nichiren Church in San Francisco followed by a private internment ceremony at the Japanese Cemetery in Colma, CA.