Mieko Martinez's Obituary
Mieko Takano Martinez, was born on March 23, 1928 to Motoji Takano and Shina Kitamura in Japan on the island of Hokkaido. She had four siblings, two brothers and two sisters, Susumu, Kouji, Kikue, and Kiyoko, all from Japan. Mieko’s family had roots from both Samurai and Sumo traditions.
In Sapporo, the family owned a hotel which was used for meetings, small conventions and overnight travelers. Her father came to the hotel when he was a sumo wrestler. This is where her parents met. In 1975, the only time Mieko returned to Japan for a visit, she was able to see the remnants of the hotel. She said the hotel was converted to a restaurant and the owner said he remembered her father was a sumo wrestler.
During the war, Mieko’s family lived in Kobe, Japan, but due to bombings they were forced to leave and moved back to Hokkaido. There, she worked for Japan’s Treasury Department while the war continued.
After the war ended, Mieko stayed in Sapporo and began working for the U.S. military families stationed at Camp Crawford. She worked as a seamstress for several American military families. She maintained this craft for many years, as she often made matching clothes for her children and later taught both her daughters how to sew.
In 1948 Mieko met Cleto Martinez while he was stationed at Camp Crawford with the U.S. Army. Cleto had been in Tokyo, Japan previously helping Japan set up rotary telephone services. He was very enamored with Japan and took many opportunities to travel through the country so it was inevitable that he would meet and marry a Japanese woman.
They married in 1953 and in 1954, Cleto was transferred to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It was there they began the start of a growing family. They bought a home and Mieko joined a group of Japanese military wives which made the transition to the U.S. a little easier. The group was known as the War Brides Group. They learned English, attended a Bible class and learned about American life. The group was coordinated by Mrs. Burton, an American woman who had once lived in Japan and knew the vast differences between both countries. When asked what she learned the most from the group, she said she learned how to cook American food. While in Oklahoma, she made many friends, three of which she would see many years later in Tacoma, WA. (Shika Bonnel, Mary Williams and Michiko Watts). During this time, Cleto and Mieko had three children, Frances, George and Teresa. During this busy time, she made time to study and become a U.S. citizen in 1957. For a portion of the time she was in Oklahoma, Cleto was stationed in Germany but she received help from friends and Cleto’s sisters, Maria and Olivia.
In the spring of 1959, the family headed to Germany for a four-year tour. They traveled there on the S.S. Atlantic. They lived in Bad Nauheim which was a beautiful resort town, so it was a nice place to live. During this time Ted and Leon were born, both in Frankfurt, Germany. She was busy raising 5 kids but enjoyed the time they were in Germany.
In 1963, they moved back to the U.S., this time Cleto was stationed at Fort Hood Texas. In Texas, Cleto and Mieko made new friends who would later reconnect in WA. Many of their friends were military families with Japanese wives. When they got together on the weekends, it usually included time at a card table. While in Texas they also visited Cleto’s relatives. She eventually learned how to make excellent tamales and tortillas.
In 1966, Cleto was stationed in Germany for the third time. During their time in Augsburg, four of their five children attended school at the military base. They recall many memories of German life, living on an army base and traveling to many tourist areas on weekends and holidays.
In the summer of 1968, the family briefly moved to Fort Riley, Kansas. Cleto received an assignment to go to Vietnam, his third war. They decided to move to Washington because they had friends in Tacoma (Ted and Shika Bonnel) who encouraged them to come. They could help Mieko while Cleto was in Vietnam. Their neighbors, Vince and Rosemary Costello also lent a helping hand. Neither couple had kids, so the five children were probably quite a handful!
Mieko probably had no idea that she would be following her husband to these numerous locations and some of them twice (Germany). Packing and unpacking, she was required to resettle in these new surroundings. Together, they raised five children and although he did all he could do to make life easier, Cleto had several assignments which required her to be a single parent. The last assignment (Vietnam) required her to single parent five children (ages 5-13) for one year. He made sure she had support from friends but she always just accepted whatever came her way.
Shortly after Cleto’s return from Vietnam, he retired from the military. Mieko preferred living in WA, so they sold their home in Oklahoma and purchased another in Tacoma. After retirement, they both worked together to purchase properties close to their home. For the next 50+ years, they both worked together to buy and manage properties.
In addition to raising five children in the home, Mieko worked two different jobs outside of the home in Tacoma. Her first job was working at a sewing factory. She must have not liked it because she didn’t work there long. She later worked at a cafeteria, also known as the Snack Bar at Fort Lewis. She had other Japanese friends who worked there so it was a perfect fit. At the snack bar she did various jobs, cooking, cleaning and cashiering. She worked there for several years.
Mieko was good with finances. She learned early how to manage a household budget, made sure the kids had what was needed and was skilled at saving money even on a limited budget. Everyone in the family knows she was good with saving and tracking expenses! She retained an amazing amount of information in her head. Until shortly before her death, she continued managing the accounting for the properties with help from Frances and George. Sometimes she would say that she was planning to retire soon- even though she said this at 91! She always had a very good sense of humor
She was a grandmother to seven- Joel, Chelsea, Jack, Aaron, Jaime, Ted and Allison and a great-grandmother to six- Hunter, Lexy, Paxton, Lucas, Saige and Douglas. They were all lucky because they saw her frequently.
Mieko was very easy going. She didn’t get too excited about many things but she remained a loyal wife and mother and she maintained her skills when it came to managing money. For many years she collected all the paperwork needed to file taxes on multiple properties, she managed family loans and also managed the books for her church. She managed all these things for decades. Recently when she was being tested at the neurologist office for her memory, the nurse said, “Wow- she really knew her math!”
Mieko maintained her strong faith through her membership with the Japanese Community Church of Tacoma. The church kept her connected to friends, her primary language and culture. She enjoyed
many great friendships with her peers, and often helped those in need by driving them to appointments, church, or shopping, and visiting them when they were ill.
Although she wasn’t able to teach her children the Japanese language, she kept to a few things Japanese. She often had rice warming in the rice cooker and sukiyaki was served as the family’s traditional Christmas meal. She also made sure there was Japanese candy in the pantry for the kids, so many of them had the experience of eating dried squid, rice candy and Pocky sticks.
Mieko was a quiet woman who rarely drew attention to herself and always placed the interests of others above herself. She was devoted to her family, her church and a small circle of friends. She will be greatly missed by those who were fortunate to get to know her.
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