Teruyo "Terry" Mihalik

After a long and happy life, Teruyo (Terry) Asami Mihalik passed away peacefully on October 7, 2025, surrounded by her family. Known for her beautiful smile, generous heart, positive outlook on life, and boundless energy, Terry’s warmth and joy left a lasting impression on all who crossed her path.

Born to Kumakichi and Shin Asami on December 5, 1927 in Tokyo, Japan as the oldest of five siblings, Terry’s early life was one filled with amazing stories and experiences. Her stories not only included wonderful childhood memories of her traditional Japanese upbringing, but also stories of living in Tokyo as it was bombed in WWII and later, the arrival of General MacArthur. Working at Bank of Japan after the war ended, a co-worker convinced Terry to apply for a waitressing job with her at the officer’s club at the nearby American military base “for fun.” It was fate, as that is where she met Mike Mihalik, her future husband.

Terry and Mike soon welcomed their daughter Loraine and son Mike Jr. With the base facing closure, they had the option to choose where to move to in the U.S. They divided a piece of paper into pie pieces, wrote down various U.S. cities on each piece, closed their eyes, spun the paper and randomly pointed at a city. Their finger landed on Seattle, which became their lifelong home.

Their house was one of warmth, support and laughter. Terry was a great cook, and she enjoyed learning to make many American and traditional Slovak dishes from Mike’s family in addition to her Japanese recipes. Over the years, their kitchen table hosted many of their children’s friends for meals, holidays, study groups, and projects – snacks and treats would somehow always magically appear.

After Mike’s unforeseen passing when Mike Jr. and Loraine were in junior high and high school, Terry went back to work as a waitress at the Women’s University Club where she worked for fourteen years. The Club soon discovered her talent as an accredited teacher from the prestigious Sogetsu school of ikebana Japanese flower arranging, and before long Terry was creating many beautiful arrangements for club events.

Family was always first for Terry, and she was happiest surrounded by her children and their spouses, her grandchildren, and extended family. Never a birthday went by without a call with her singing rendition of “Happy birthday to you.” Her family will always cherish her gentle strength, positive spirit and unwavering love.

Terry is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Loraine and Scott, her son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Beverly, her two grandchildren, Dane and Taryn, her sisters Toshiko and Sachiko, her brother-in-law Kazuo, and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held for her on Saturday November 22 at 1:00PM at Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home in Seattle. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to PAWS (paws.org/donate/), to support Terry’s love of any and all animals, or the Hope Creek Charitable Foundation (hopecreekcf.org), her church’s food bank.