Taro Kishi's Final Years
In the late 1970's, Aunt Liz's health began to fail and she required a lot of medical attention. Uncle Taro came out of retirement and went back to work doing lawn and golf course maintenance to pay the bills. In 1984, Elizabeth Kishi passed away. Taro continued to work: he felt that it served as good physical therapy for himself. Also, he felt he needed to be a useful, productive citizen in society. During his vacation time in November, he'd go to A&M Homecoming activities and then come to see me in Dallas. Over the various times he came to see me, we’d go to the opera, symphony concerts, piano recitals, art museum, and zoo. We always made a point to go to sushi restaurants.
But unfortunately, in 1993, after being diagnosed with lung cancer, he passed away on July 24, 1993 and was buried in Kishi Cemetery.
Uncle Taro had a special charm to touch so many people in his daily life. He always knew a funny Aggie joke to entertain us or recalled tales of the "old days" & humorous things that happened to him. It's hard to find a person as kind and thoughtful as the Christian gentleman we know as our dear uncle. He may be gone from this earth, but is certainly not forgotten.
Text from a presentation by Ida Hirasaki Bush to the Methodist Church in Vidor.