Yasuko Asahito Barker, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, passed away in Coppell, Texas, on June 26, 2021. Yasuko was born in the beautiful countryside of Fukushima, Japan, on April 27, 1932. In 1953, while working as a cashier at a U.S. Army base near Fukushima, she met a shy and handsome U.S. soldier from Weymouth, Massachusetts named Herbert (Herb) Joseph Barker. Three years later, Herb and Yasuko were married at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and moved to the U.S. soon afterward. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1960. Besides Japan, Yasuko and Herb lived in Maine, New York, Ohio, and California, before ultimately settling in Oklahoma. Yasuko worked as an accounting clerk for the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission for twenty-two years. Herb and Yasuko enjoyed forty-seven years of marriage until Herb’s death in March of 1999. As a young woman in Japan, Yasuko was trained as a seamstress, which led to a lifetime of passion and talent for quilt-making, sewing beautiful clothing for her grandchildren, and knitting sweaters for her sons.
Yasuko was preceded in death by her parents Yoshige and Hesako Asahito, her brother Toshi Asahito, her sister Mitzi Guajardo, and her other siblings in Japan. Her three sons and their spouses survive her: Charles and wife Dolores from Coppell, Texas; Edward and wife Christine from Chicago, Illinois; and James and wife Clemencia from Highland Village, Texas. She is also survived by her four grandchildren Savannah, Michelle, Montana, and Chloe; all of whom she adored and who will miss her love, affection and kindness.
A service will be held at Lilac Hill Memorial Garden Cemetery in Moore, Oklahoma, on Labor Day weekend, where Yasuko will be laid to rest with her beloved Herb. Yasuko was a devout Buddhist and was an active member of the Dharma Center of Oklahoma City for many years. The details for the service will follow.
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