Mitsuru Takahashi
October 22, 1924 - May 14, 2013
Obituary
MITSURU “MITS” TAKAHASHI
Mits Takahashi passed away on Tuesday, May 14th, after a long illness. He was born in Seattle on October 22, 1924, and was the youngest child of Minoru and Kanee Takahashi. Mits attended Garfield High School when WWII interrupted his education. The family was relocated to the Puyallup Fairgrounds, then to Minidoka Internment Camp in Idaho where Mits was recruited into the Army and fought with the famed 442nd RCT. He served in Italy and was awarded a Silver Star for valor and, in one of his proudest moments, the Congressional Gold Medal in November 2011 with fellow members of the 442nd. After the war, Mits married June Oyama and they made their home in Seattle where he and his father ran the family gardening business and were proud members of the Seattle Japanese Gardeners Association. Mits was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Isako Koba. He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, June; children Steve (Kathi), Vicki, Marsha Edwards (Ken), Lori (John Michel); grandchildren Rian (Neita), Corrie (Peter Yukawa); great grandchildren Amalia, Diego and Mateo and many nephews and nieces. He is also survived by his sisters, Yoshi Kanemori and Pauline Asaba.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Nikkei Concerns, 1601 East Yesler Way, Seattle 98122 or Nisei Veterans Committee, 1212 South King Street, Seattle 98144.
We were blessed to be your next door neighbors. May you rest in peace Mits. June, we are thinking of your at the time of your sorrow and wishing you prayers for now and the future.
We are truly missing Mits. He had a kind and generous soul. Because of Mits, I discovered that there is no generation gap between the Nisei and the Sansei. I am proud to say he was my friend. His willingness to talk about my uncle who was a medic in Mits’ platoon and Mits’ experience during WWII helped me understand what my uncle did as a medic. My late uncle never spoke about the war. Whenever we visited Seattle, he insisted we stay at his and June’s home. That’s the man I knew and cared of.