Kazuko Kushima
March 08, 1927 - June 14, 2023
Service: Service and internment private
Born in Beppu, Kyushu, Japan in the second year of the reign of Emperor Hirohito in 1927, Kazuko Kushima recently passed peacefully from this life on June 14th at the age of 96. She was the wife of the late Kenneth Kushima who predeceased her in Honolulu 22 years ago. Kazuko is survived by her two daughters: Katharine Hirata (Richard) of Honolulu and Karen Love (Raymond) of Ross Township. She was also preceded in death by her beloved younger brother Masateru Tabata of Sagamihara, Japan, and also survived by nephews Hiroshi and Satoshi Tabata, and numerous grand-nephews and grand-nieces in Japan. A local private Buddhist service will be held. On March 8, 2025, an additional private Buddhist service will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, after which the combined ashes of Kenneth and Kazuko will be scattered in the Pacific off of Oahu, as per their repeated request.
Kazuko was a graduate of the Ferris Mission School in Yokohama and the heir apparent of the Minatoya Ryokan in Beppu, Japan, where she married Kenneth Kushima of the American Occupation Army in 1950, after which the couple emigrated to Ewa Beach on Oahu, Hawaii. As an avid reader, she took up a lifetime career at the Hawaii Times in Honolulu until its subsequent closure in 1985. She then became affiliated with the Foodland Corporation for 11 years. In 1996, she made one more major move to join her daughter in the Perrysville section of Pittsburgh, PA, where she lived out a beautifully peaceful retirement of 27 years.
Much Aloha till we meet again.
