Sayônara (In Memoriam)
October 10, 2003
Contents
Sometime between June 30 and July 1, 2001, the Japan Kobe Mission was
"consolidated" with the neighboring Japan Hiroshima and Japan Nagoya
Missions. The Kobe Stake and Fukuchiyama District joined the Hiroshima Mission;
the rest of the Japan Kobe Mission became part of the Nagoya Mission. We'll miss
you, JKM, and wish you the very best!
- Abbott, Kenneth
- Clarence Calkins reports (3 Dec 1998):
My cousin (once removed,) Kenneth Abbott was called to the Japan Central mission a month
after I was. We met for the first time in the LTM. A couple weeks after arriving in the
orient the mission became Japan Kobe. He was a hard worker and served a faithful,
honorable, mission from April 1973 until April 1975. A few months later, Kenneth became
ill and was eventually admitted to the hospital in (I think) Spanish Fork Utah where he
passed away from Lukemia in the spring of 1976.
- Akagi, Kenji
- President Akagi died April 2, 1991, while serving as President of the Japan Missionary
Training Center. He was president of the Japan Kobe Mission from 1974 to 1977.
- Anderson, Lyle
- Robert Thorup (rthorup@rqn.com)
reports (3 Apr 2001)
Lyle Anderson ('70-'72) was my first companion, in Suita in March 1972, where he was District Leader. He was my mentor and example throughout my mission. We maintained a close friendship after our missions. Lyle contracted cancer while living in Texas and working for Continental
Airlines. He passed away a few years ago. His wife and children reside in Houston.
- Andresen, Timothy J.
- Tim's brother reports (4 Oct 2003):
"We learned this morning that my brother, Timothy J. Andresen passed away in
Osaka Japan, where he had lived for many years. He served as a missionary in
the Kobe Japan mission from 1979 to 1981. Tim had been in a coma after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage last weekend. He passed away around 8am Saturday
October 3, Las Vegas time. His family will hold a memorial service on Sunday,
October 12 in Las Vegas. Anyone who served with Tim and knew and loved him is
invited to attend."
- Cannon, Doug
- Bob Glad (BobG@CRISNET.com ) reports (13 Sep
1999):
Doug served between February 1975 and February 1977. He was one of my zone leaders when I
first got to Kobe II. Approximately 2 months, in mid April, after returning home, he was
killed in a hold up of the convenience store where he worked. (Later when I was in college
at Weber State, one of my friends was from his ward and told me some of the details.)
- Crandall,
Brett
- Brett was killed in an automobile accident in about 2001, while travelling
with his friend and former missionary companion, Ryan
Pugh. "They were
both in a car when it collided with a truck on a canyon road late at
night." --E-mail from Patrick Trepanier (ptrep@exchange.microsoft.com),
31 Dec 2002.
- Hobson, Yuko Takaoka (updated
10/28/1999)
- Yuko passed away on December 26, 1998 from breast cancer. She had a six month old baby
boy named Joshua and had been living in Japan with her family and husband. If anyone wants
more information about her, please contact Melanie Price Wellman.
- Johnson, Stant Scott
- Ron Williams (1974-76, ronw@legalgraphic.com)
reports (7, 13 Mar 2000):
"Stant Scott Johnson (he went by 'Scott'--actually by Johnson Chôrô in the
mission) ... and I left for our
missions from the same ward in Buena Park, California. He came out later than I, I believe
in the fall of 1975 or so. He returned home, finished his accounting degree, may even have
become a CPA, and went to work at a big Los Angeles accouting firm, may have been Price
Waterhouse. On the way home from work on March 25, 1983, another car ran a stop sign or light,
and hit Scott's car, killing him instantly. He is buried in Cypress, Ca. at the Forest Lawn
Park. He was a very enthusiastic
person and missionary, and it was my pleasure to attend seminary, high school, etc. with
him. I also got to serve as his zone leader for a short time in the Kobe zone in late 1975,
early 1976."
- Matsushita, Yasuhiro
- President Matsushita passed away in Kichijoji, Japan, on 4 Nov 2002. Read Sister
Robertson's account of events leading up to his death.
- Pugh,
Ryan (updated 5 Jan 2003)
- Scott Peck (thepecks1@home.com)
writes:
"I am an RM from Okayama and was browsing the other mission sites. I came
across my friend Ryan Pugh's name. Sadly, Ryan was killed in an automobile accident a couple of
months ago. He was with a friend from his mission who was also killed. I don't recall his
friend's name though [Webmaster: the friend's name was Brett
Crandall]. I thought you could
add his name to your sayonara page so that his friends would know about this
tragic accident. Ryan was a good man and will be missed."
- Strobel, Joseph
- According to a note from Ron Williams (13 Mar 2000), Elder George Hara
reports that Elder Joseph Strobel, who served from spring 1974 until 1976,
has passed away. In a note dated 7 Sep 2004, Mark Butler writes:
"[Strobel Choro's] nephew and namesake recently served
in the New York New York South Mission, where I live.
"He confirmed that Strobel Choro passed away in a small plane accident in September 1980.
"I spoke with him about his uncle, who served with me in Kochi
in the winter of 1975. I remember especially his exuberance and
enthusiasm. One morning as we sang at the beginning of our
district gospel study, he asked if he could sing the hymn ('All
Creatures of Our God and King') like the Tabernacle Choir. I
agreed, since that would surely improve our singing.
"When we got to the third Alleluia at the end of the first verse
(just before the 'O praise him') Elder Strobel went up, instead of
down, in an obbligato that had the rest of us laughing so hard
that we couldn't finish the hymn.
"He was a good missionary."
- Okazaki, Edward Y.
- President Okazaki passed away in the spring of 1992, following a general Relief Society
conference in Salt Lake City, where his wife Chieko
had just spoken. President Okazaki was the first president of the Japan-Okinawa Mission
(the original Japan Kobe Mission) from 1968 to 1971.
- Perry Shimai
- Pane Meatoga III, in a 2 Sept 2002 post to the KobeAlumni mailing list,
writes:
"Just posting this to let you know the untimely death of Perry Shimai. She served in Kobe for only a few months before being
transferred back to the states because of medical problems. Ever since then she's been fighting with a tumor that couldn't be removed.
She died last week and will be returning to Hawaii to be buried next to her grandmother. I'll be attending her services this
Thursday (Aug 8th [sic])."
- Wilson,
Curtis P.
- President Wilson returned to his Heavenly Father in late August 2000,
following a struggle with colon cancer. Funeral services were held in
Shelley, Idaho, on September 2, 2000. Sayônara, President Wilson!
Read letters to the Wilson family, by a few
missionaries.
- Wood, Patricia Lemmon
- Lemmon Shimai died of breast cancer on Christmas Day, December 25, 1995. She is survived
by her husband Larry (also a Japan Kobe Mission alumnus) and by five children (three
girls, two boys, ages 7-18).
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