Mitsi was born on June 27, 1920 to Naoto and Iyo Saiki. She grew up with her sister Sylvia and two brothers, Hideo and Yoshio, on Yarrow Point where her father rented and farmed land in what is now the Wetherill Nature preserve, located between Yarrow Point and Hunts Point.
Her father, Naoto, was a very adventurous man who traveled the world before bringing his new bride, Iyo, to settle down on Yarrow Point. Mitsi and Sylvia inherited his adventurous spirit and grew up wandering the Points, Kirkland, and neighboring communities. Mitsi used to tell stories of how she and Sylvia would swim across Cozy Cove with plastic inflatable water wings because neither of them could actually swim. Looking back, that seems like adventurous spirit run amuck, but they both survived that and other adventures and lived long and happy lives.
Mitsi married Wilce Shiomi before WW2 and spent the first year of her marriage in Tule Lake Internment Camp. After their release from the camp, Wilce was unceremoniously drafted into the US army so while he went to basic training as a medic, Mitsi stayed with her sister in Cleveland, Ohio, where their only child Sandra was born. Wilce and Mitsi were both native born American citizens, and the experience of being incarcerated by their own country, and then Wilce being drafted to serve in the army immediately after his release, had a deep and lasting effect on them both.
After the war ended, Wilce went to Cleveland to collect his bride and they returned to Seattle where they opened a radio and appliance repair shop on Yesler Avenue. After a few years they opened Connors Furniture and Appliance Store on Jackson Street, which they successfully ran for more than 40 years and which became an institution in the Seattle International District.
Mitsi outlived Wilce by 20 years and their daughter Sandra by 8 years, and is survived by her son-in-law, Dennis, her two grandsons, Nathan and Brian, their wives Barbara and Jennie, 6 amazing grandchildren, Hannah, Addie, Rachel, Tali, Milo, and Gus, and a close nephew Ron Tatsumi. She lived a full and happy life. Hers was a life well lived. Please send remembrances in her memory to a charity of your choice.
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