by Julia and James Powell
Her Early Life
Keiko was born on August 18th, 1937 in Fukuoka, Japan. She was the first of two children of Keisuke Saito and Fusae Morioka. Her current family in Japan consists of her sister, Reiko Sekine, and her niece and nephew, Yuko and Akila. Keiko’s life in Japan was challenging as she and her sister worked to help support the family after their father died. She graduated high school with honors and began work as an administrative assistant at Itazuke (E-ta-zu-key) US Air Force base in Fukuoka City, Japan. After 3 years, she transferred to Yokota Air Base (Yo-ko-ta) in Tokyo Japan. This is where she met her husband, Paul Powell, who was stationed there.
Her Family Life
Keiko married her husband, Paul, on October 21st, 1971 while still in Japan. Shortly after that, Paul retired from the US Air Force and they moved to Florida. They had two children, Julia and James. She also has two grandchildren, Audrey and Hudson. One of her greatest joys was picking up her grandchildren every day from elementary school and watching them for a few hours while James and Kellie were at work. This is when the three of them were able to spend quality time together and bond. She loved her grandchildren so much and having them in her lives gave her life a whole new meaning. We feel blessed that Audrey and Hudson were able to have those precious years together.
Memories
We have an entire lifetime of fond memories of our Mom. Here are a few we would like to share. Keiko loved showing old photo albums she had put together over the years, and telling family stories of where and when the photos were taken. Looking at old photos revealed the fact that several of James’ clothes, including one piece bathing suits, were hand me downs from his sister, Julia. Julia enjoys telling people his favorite hand me down was the Wonder Woman bathing suit!!
Keiko always looked forward to family gatherings at various times, including birthdays and holidays. She especially looked forward to being around people when it came time for her birthday. The only question was which sushi restaurant she would choose. She always made it a point to call and send a birthday card to her immediate and extended family and offer to take them to dinner to celebrate.
Keiko had a great sense of humor and enjoyed making people laugh. She loved to dance. Her favorite dance was the Jitterbug. She enjoyed entertaining her guests by juggling, and she was very good at it. We recently discovered that she liked to sing Karaoke!
Paul and Keiko provided a solid baseline for raising their children. Keiko instilled a sense of responsibility in her children at an early age, even when things like opening a bank account or setting up life insurance weren’t priorities in their minds. She was very conscious of health and made sure that her children had an ample supply of vitamins and supplements. James ended up with a collection of fish oil tablets that he couldn’t take in a lifetime, but always thanked her for her concern.
She enjoyed teaching us about the many facets of her Japanese culture, and we feel honored to have learned and possess many of those qualities today.
Closing
We are very saddened to lose our Mom but are very thankful for the life we had together. We will miss her dearly. The world is a sadder place without her. She was the most caring person we have ever known. She always put others first and left a positive mark on everyone who was fortunate enough to know her. Her family can smile when they look back at pictures and videos. These memories will be in our hearts forever.
A funeral service for Keiko will be held Monday, July 26, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home, 428 E. Plant St., Winter Garden, FL 34787. Following the funeral service will be a committal service from 1:30 PM to 2:00 PM at Winter Garden Cemetery, 13636 Lake Butler Blvd, Winter Garden, FL 34787.
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