Tokiko Blake passed peacefully on March 13, 2021 while visiting her daughter and family in Sacramento, Calif. Her last day was happily spent with family, enjoying dinner and watching the Golden Girls. We are grateful there were no illness or pain when she left to join her husband John in Heaven.
Tokiko was born Jan. 20, 1935, in Kawasaki, Japan, to parents Masujiro and Mine Minase. She was the fifth of six children. She met the love of her life, John Blake, while he was stationed there with the U.S. Navy. They married on July 18, 1955 in Fukuoka, Japan and, shortly thereafter, moved to the United States to begin her journey as a Navy wife and mother.
As a Navy wife, she lived in Newport, R.I., Corpus Christi, Texas, Oak Harbor, Wash.; and Cherry Point, N.C., before settling down in Oak Harbor when John retired in 1970.
Tokiko was a remarkable person and her family was incredibly blessed to have her as a wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and mother-in-law. She was a kind and gentle person who thought nothing of herself and everything of her family and friends. Her smiles and laughter would light up a room, lifting up all around her. She had the special talent of being able to make the people around her feel good. Her greatest passion and joy in life was her family. She expressed this in too many ways to list. She enjoyed painting, reading and various arts and crafts throughout her life. She enjoyed maintaining and living in her family home in Oak Harbor.
Tokiko and John were active at the Oak Harbor Senior Center. She enjoyed ping pong matches; trips to shows, Mariners games and various casinos with other members. She was also very active in the Oak Harbor Japanese Club, in which she had many close friends and participated in activities, including Oak Harbor Fourth of July parades. Win or lose, Tokiko had great fun trying out her luck at the Swinomish Casino.
Tokiko enjoyed traveling, including trips home to Japan to visit family; to Europe to visit her son, during which she was especially impressed with a visit to Paris. A few years ago, she went on a cruise to Alaska with her son and daughter, which she enjoyed very much.
In recent months, Tokiko expressed to her family that she has had a long and wonderful life. She was very proud of her children and grandchildren. Words cannot describe our sense of loss but our lives have been so enriched to have her in it. She was a beautiful person in every way and she now lives in Heaven with John and will be in our hearts forever.
Tokiko was preceded in death by her husband John on April 28, 2003. She is survived by son Bill Blake, of Olympia, Wash.; daughter Judy; grandchildren Brad and Cassandra; and son-in-law Bill Boyce, of Sacramento, Calif.; and her younger brother Tatsuo Minase, of Yokohama, Japan. She had numerous nieces and nephews around the world. She was especially close to and survived by a favorite niece, Reiko Inazawa, of Stockholm, Sweden.
