Sonoye Sakaguchi Obituary (1927 - 2022)

SONOYE (SONO) SAKAGUCHI March 25, 1927 to August 13, 2022 Sonoye (Sono) Kiuchi was born to John Ryotaro and Kin Kiuchi on March 25, 1927 in Sacramento, CA. The small family with two children (Sono and Atsushi) moved to the Pacific Northwest where Sono attended public schools. More siblings added to the family while in Seattle. By 1941, the Kiuchi family numbered seven in all, with Sono being big sister to Atsushi, George, Lillian (Yuriko) and Kiyoe. The following year, EO 9066 saw the Kiuchi family, along with thousands of other Japanese families, interned at Minidoka, Idaho. There, brother Frank was born. Sono graduated from high school in Camp. After release from Camp, Sono worked for a short time as a housekeeper in Emmett, Idaho. She moved to Seattle, leaving her family, which then included baby Janice, behind. Once in Seattle, she met Paul Kuni Sakaguchi. They were married in 1950. Sono's only daughter Ann was born in 1952. Paul Jr. came along the following year and Mark rounded out the family four years later. Sono stayed home with her children until they all entered school. She then began a new career working at Nordstrom. During the Nordstrom years, she finally learned to drive a car, to make the daily commute to work at Southcenter. In support of her family, Sono became involved in Camp Fire Girls and Boy Scouts. She also attended countless concerts, recitals, games and parades. Family vacations often included camping and road trips to visit family and friends. After retirement, travel with Kuni expanded to include trips to Asia, the British Isles, cruises in the Caribbean and many trips to Hawaii. Whenever they could, tennis and golf were fit into their travel plans. Sono played golf regularly until well into her 70's. Sono loved to read; she was a regular at the Des Moines library, where they knew her by name. She would peruse newspaper write ups of the bestsellers, and put her name on the long waiting lists, going in person to check on status every few days (she did not use the internet.) She was also a productive knitter, making hundreds of hats for homeless people served by Operation Nightwatch. Kuni loved sports so Sono became a fan, too. She especially enjoyed watching women's sports: women's golf, the UW women's teams and the Seattle Storm. On August 13, 2022, Sono passed away peacefully at Nikkei Manor, where she had received excellent, loving care from her private caregivers Claire and Evelyn and the Nikkei Manor staff. Sono is preceded in death by her husband Paul Kuni, parents Kin and John, and sister Janice. She is greatly missed by her daughter Ann, son Paul Jr. (Stacie), son Mark (Debbie), 4 granddaughters and 5 great grandchildren, brothers Atsushi Kiuchi, George Kiuchi (Lillian), sisters Lillian Yuriko Yamamoto and Kiyoe Doi (Sho), brother Frank Kiuchi, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. At her explicit request, there are no services. She and Kuni's remains will be buried together at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in November, near the time of their wedding anniversary. Gifts in her memory may be made to a charity of your choice or the Japanese Presbyterian Church, 1801 24th Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98144.