Sumiko Ishii

Sumiko Ishii, 91, of Springfield, VA passed away peacefully on February 12, 2023 surrounded by family. She was born in 1931 in Kyoto, Japan, the second child and only daughter of Yonetaro and Fuku Fujita. She is survived by her brothers Osamu (Michiko), Tadashi (Nagako), and Hiroshi (Chizu); husband, Masaharu; daughters Sylvia (Robert) Malinowski, Carol Devine, and Audrey (Donald) Curran; seven grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.

Sumiko met her husband Masaharu in 1952 in Tomioka on the outskirts of Yokohama, Japan. They were married on September 6, 1957 by the American Consulate in Yokohama. After marrying, they moved to Okinawa in 1958 where their three daughters were born. Sumiko became a U.S. citizen in 1961. The family moved to Annandale, VA in 1971 and to Frankfurt, Germany in 1975. Sumiko and Masaharu moved back and forth between Virginia and Germany before finally settling in Virginia in 1992.

Sumiko was very active in the USCAR (United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands) Women’s Club in Okinawa which promoted cross cultural exchanges. She was an instructor of ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, and also studied and performed traditional Japanese dance. In Frankfurt, she was active in charitable organizations such as the Frankfurt Thrift Shop, providing clothing to those in need, trained under a Cordon Bleu chef, and went on multiple trips with the Officers’ Wives’ Club. Sumiko and Masaharu loved to travel, and they toured the Far East, the Eastern Seaboard, Canada, and Europe extensively with all three girls in tow.

In her final years, Sumiko and Masaharu moved to Greenspring senior living community so that they could be closer to their immediate family members in Virginia. A memorial service for Sumiko will be held on Monday, February 20, 2023 at 11:00 am at St Bernadette Catholic Church, 7600 Old Keene Mill Road, Springfield, VA. Following the service, the family invites you to a reception in the Bradican Room at St Bernadette.

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