Miyoko Gusukuma's Obituary
Miyoko “Rachel” Gusukuma, 88, passed away peacefully at Maui Memorial Medical Center on May 9, 2021. She was born in 1932 and grew up in HC&S Camp-3 near Spreckelsville, Maui. In her 20’s Rachel followed her Kaneshiro siblings to Los Angeles for a few years where she was an office worker. She married then moved back to Maui with her husband Tokusei. They settled in Kihei where Rachel was active in the community and school events with her children. Working in the Kihei School cafeteria, “Aunty Rachel” made many friends, unofficially mentored countless students, and generally had good fun for a number of years. Following her retirement, she stayed busy with cultural activities mainly through the Maui Okinawa Kenjin Kai in between her trips to visit the slot machines in Las Vegas. Even well into her 80’s she liked to say she was “getting younger every year” and she enjoyed “taking care of the old folks” whom she befriended over a lifetime on Maui.
Rachel is survived by her daughters Diana (Michael) Yamauchi, Laura Gusukuma-Minuto; son Danny (Suzannah) Gusukuma; brother Donald Kaneshiro; and grandchildren Mitchell Minuto, Dana Yamauchi, Arlo Yamauchi, Max Gusukuma, and Grant Gusukuma.
Rachel’s service will be held at Maui Veterans Cemetery in Makawao on Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at 11:00 AM, where her ashes will be interred at her husband Tokusei’s gravesite. Due to COVID restrictions the service will be brief and of very limited scale. The family requests that in lieu of koden, donations can be made directly to Rinzai Zen Mission, PO Box 791586, Paia, HI 96779, (808) 579-9921, or Maui Okinawa Kenjin Kai, PO Box 1884, Wailuku, HI 96793, (808) 242-1560.
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