WA - Yaeko Ito was born in Central California and died peacefully at home in Seattle, WA. As a child, Yaeko moved with her family to their farm in Hiroshima. She loved the outdoors and climbing trees. At 14, Yaeko experienced the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast. Fortunately, the school was shielded from the blast by hillsides which spared her health. Yaeko and her family helped ash-covered survivors by giving them food and water. Yaeko married Tsutomu Ito in December 1952. They boarded a ship to Seattle three months later, where they lived for the remainder of their years. Yaeko enjoyed going to the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple and attending the adult day program, Kokoro Kai, at Nikkei Manor. Tsutomu preceded her in death in 2005. Yaeko is survived by her children, Cynthia Hinds (Tom), Gail Epps (Tom), Nancy Ito-DelRe (Martin) and James Ito (Melanie) and 5 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. Yaeko is inurned at Butterworth Funeral Home in Seattle.

A funeral was held on December 7th. In lieu of flowers and gifts, please send donations to Kokoro Kai c/o Nikkei Manor 700 6th Ave S. Seattle, WA 98104