Sayo Black

Sayo Monguchi Black, friend, sister, mother and grandmother, passed away to the next life on August 14, 2026 in Bremerton, WA. She was 90 years old. She continued to be happy as she aged and delighted in playing with her great grandson, Liam, until just a few days before passing.

Sayo was born to Kamei Monguchi and Kamato Yamashiro on December 10, 1935 in Henna, Katsurencho, Okinawa. Sayo was the youngest of 7 children. As a girl she helped by working on her family farm alongside her siblings and parents. She watched her father dig the outdoor bathroom and craft a head basket so Sayo could haul potatoes home on her head from their farm. Sayo loved to play volleyball in middle school and, even though she was only 5’2”, she often told her grandkids that she was the tallest girl on the team.

Sayo met her husband, Harold Keith Black in 1961 while working at White Beach Naval Base in Okinawa. She loved waitressing in the mid 1950s to early 60s. She met many lifelong friends and saved money to send home to her mother while working on base.

Sayo and Harold were blessed with two children while living in Japan, and Sayo embraced the role of being a mother and housewife. They moved their family to Bremerton, WA in the late 1960s and bought their first home.

Sayo bowled in the Japanese Women’s Bowling League for over 50 years in Bremerton and Silverdale. She learned how to cook American food, sew her own clothing and garden. She also learned how to drive shortly after she arrived in the US. Sayo loved to learn and took classes at Olympic College in English, citizenship, cake decorating, math, sewing, and crocheting.

Her garden flowers were always beautiful and she learned to trim bonsai trees to perfection in the courtyard of her home with Harold before his passing in 1990.

Sayo loved picking mushrooms with friends in the forests of the Puget Sound area. She looked forward to and planned many trips with her Okinawan friends. Their gatherings were filled with eating traditional Japanese foods, speaking the Okinawan dialect, Okinawan dancing and visiting for hours.

Our mom loved to go to lunch and delighted in trying new restaurants. She traveled with her sisters to Alaska, Japan and South America. She loved traveling with her daughter Si every summer when they’d pick a National park to visit or a road trip to CA to visit her great grandkids or travel abroad to Europe. Mom was always game for a fun trip and truly loved to experience the culture of new places. She loved her grandchildren dearly, they affectionately called her “Grandma Japanese”. She ran foot races with her grandkids and challenged them to arm wrestling matches well into her 80’s. Her grandkids loved her delicious fried rice, and she never let anyone go hungry on her watch, always having food on hand to offer to visitors at a moment’s notice.

Mom loved sports, which she grew a love for with her late husband and never missed watching a Seahawks game. She followed the Sonics back in the day and loved the Mariners. She spent many years watching games with her son Harold after Harold Sr. passed away.

Sayo loved being a mother, Her gentle ways with children will always be remembered. She was the best mother and wife. Always loyal and loving. She left a legacy of love, honesty, integrity, hard work and devotion to her family.

Our mother and grandmother will be missed but we know she was welcomed on the other side by many who have been waiting for her. She is preceded in death by her husband, Harold K. Black, her parents, and all of her siblings. Sayo is survived by her daughter Sayuri (Si) Foster, husband Grant, grandchildren: Corrine Stokoe (Neil), Brooke Eliason (Cody), Stephen Foster, Jacob (Jaiden) Foster. Son, Harold J Black, wife Kaari, grandchildren: Jordan Ziegenhagen (Rick), Kaiden Black, and 12 great-grandchildren: Ani, Lyla, Millie, Harry, Bobby, George, Freddie, Eleanor, Leo, Bella, Ari, and Liam.

A celebration of Sayo’s life will be held in 2027.