Chizuko (toyozumi) Walsh

Chizuko (Toyozumi) Walsh, 75, of Wethersfield, passed away Friday, (July 23, 2010). She was born March 15, 1935 in Kumamoto-Ken, Kyushu, Japan, the daughter of the late Masaru and Shizuka (Hayashi) Toyozumi. Chizuko was employed as a manager in local Japanese restaurants including Benihana's in Farmington and Shogun in Glastonbury. An avid sportswoman in her younger years she enjoyed, and excelled at badminton, volleyball and basketball and later, golf, bowling, and trap and skeet shooting. She was an avid Red Sox and UCONN Women's Basketball fan. She also enjoyed gardening of any kind, sewing, crocheting, classical music, and feeding wild squirrels and birds. Always the animal lover she enjoyed two generations of cats, namely Masa and Taka and most recently Tigger and Roo. Sharing in her many talents Chizuko led many cooking classes (especially Japanese cooking), demonstrated origami (the art of paper folding) ikebana (the art of flower arranging), translated Japanese at the Glastonbury Community Center, and wrote haiku (Japanese poetry) for her dear friends. Above all Chizuko's greatest joy in life was her family and friends. She was a kind and giving person who was made happy by the simplest things in life. She is survived by her son, Michael Walsh and his wife Lynn of Plymouth; her daughter, Lisa Deary and her husband Michael of Guilford; two grandchildren, Christopher Walsh and his wife Kelly of Naugatuck, and Amie Walsh of Wallingford; and a great grandson, Jacob Daniel Walsh. She is also survived by several brothers, sisters and loving family members in Japan. A celebration of life will be held Wednesday, July 28, at 1 p.m. at the D'Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Blvd., Wethersfield. For online expressions of sympathy please visit www.desopo.com.