Hiroshi Kitamura
Hiroshi Kitamura died peacefully on July 13, 2011 at his home in Seattle Nikkei Manor. He was until recently a resident of Redmond, WA where he retired with his beloved wife Margaret Peggy after moving from Tokyo Japan.
Hiroshi was born October 6, 1930 in Yuzawa city, Akita, Japan to Uichi and Nobu Sato Kitamura, the 5th of 6 children. Born with hip dysplasia dislocated hips and torticollis tilted neck, and losing his father at a very young age, he had a difficult childhood as a handicapped child in rural Northern Japan. He learned to cook and clean from his mother, and had to leave school before finishing 7th grade to work in a factory making tooling for military aircraft engines during World War II. After the war, he briefly moved to Tokyo to work as a finish carpenter, but returned to Akita amid the chronic food shortages in the devastated capital. He then apprenticed as a shoemaker in Sendai.
Hiroshi spent 3 years in the late 1950’s in a tuberculosis sanitorium, where he eventually received rib surgery to collapse part of the affected lung tissue. He later underwent a second surgery in Tokyo on the other lung; he was always grateful to the doctors who also corrected his torticollis at that time.
After leaving the hospital, he helped with his mother’s business, delivering vegetables. He was drawn to a new phenomenon in town, a Christian church called Yuzawa Bible Baptist Church; it was founded in part by a Baptist missionary from Montana named Margaret Peggy Winter. Hiroshi found not only a new faith in Jesus Christ; he later fell in love with and married Peggy, on July 12, 1961. Peggy left the active mission field after they married, although she continued to teach, evangelize and be active in the church.
Hiroshi and Peggy moved to the Tokyo area, where Hiroshi founded his own shoe company, Manhattan Shoes, hiring his younger brother Takemasa and eventually a staff of a dozen craftsmen. Manhattan’s handmade leather shoes were sold at the high-end Yoshinoya shoe store in Tokyo’s famed Ginza neighborhood.
In 1962, Hiroshi and Peggy were blessed with a son, Paul Eiichi, and in 1966 another son, Craig Shinji Stephen. Hiroshi’s niece Keiko Kitamura also lived with them for many years.
In 1968, Hiroshi was diagnosed with stomach cancer, a common and typically fatal disease in 1960’s Japan. He underwent a gastric resection, removing about 80% of his stomach, and connecting the remainder to the intestine. The surgery was successful, but required a difficult recovery and affected his diet and weight for the rest of his life. Warned by the doctors that he would not be able to work for a long time, he turned control of Manhattan Shoes to Takemasa, and convalesced at home. Peggy returned to the workforce to help support the family. Hiroshi in turn became the family chef, and developed his much beloved cooking skills.
A long-time dog-lover, Hiroshi bought a brown and white ‘domino’-colored Afghan Hound named Robin. Inspired by the dog’s beauty and character, he began to breed Afghans out of his home, and established Winterbourne Kennels as a significant player in Japanese purebred dogs circles. Hiroshi developed a unique line of blue-haired Afghans, the first to be bred in Japan and not imported from abroad. He specialized in blue- and domino-colored Afghans, along with a number of toy breeds Pekinese, Yorkies and Pomeranians. Winterbourne Kennels produced many Champion and Grand Champion dogs, and won Best of Breed and Best In Show awards at many dog shows. Hiroshi also became a Japan Kennel Club judge for Afghan Hounds.
Peggy and Hiroshi were long-time active members of the Calvary Baptist Church in Tachikawa, Tokyo Japan.
In 1987, Peggy and Hiroshi decided to retire and return to her native land, and moved to Redmond, WA, near Paul’s home in Seattle. They were members of Japanese Baptist Church in Seattle.
Hiroshi was an avid igo Japanese Chess-type game player, and was active in local igo clubs. He was an artist, photographer and hobbyist, creating paintings, woodblock prints, pottery, gadgets, and ingenious repairs. He was a master chef who could cook almost anything, with or without a recipe, and loved to feed family and friends from a well-stocked larder. He was an avid reader and Japanese newshound, a fan of TV Japan for its taste of home. He spent much of his time adapting to life in a new country, quickly adjusting to American roads and stores, but struggling with the written and spoken word. His gift for story and song transcended language differences and was enjoyed by family and friends.
Hiroshi lost Peggy to pancreatic cancer in January 2002, two years before the birth of his granddaughter Kaili to Craig and wife Julia.
Hiroshi was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Peggy, his brothers Reiichiro, Sadao and Takemasa and sister Kiyoko. He is survived by one sister, Mrs. Fukiko Takahashi of Yokote, Akita Japan; his son Paul and daughter-in law Mika, of Seattle, WA; his son Craig, daughter-in-law Julia and granddaughter Kaili, of Bellevue, WA; his brother-in-law Malcolm D Winter and wife Beth, of Miles City, MT; sisters-in-law Tsuyuko and Atsuko Kitamura, both of Kawasaki, Japan; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
A memorial service and reception will be held on Sunday, July 31 at 3:00 p.m. at Japanese Baptist Church, 160 Broadway, Seattle WA. 206 622-7351.
He will be interred next to Peggy at Sunset Hills Memorial Park, in Bellevue, WA.
If desired, memorials in Hiroshi’s honor may be made to www.nikkeiconcerns.org; the Nikkei Manor staff were very good to him in the last few months of his life, caring for him while allowing him to still live independently, in a place to call home.
