Obituary of Fujiko White

Fujiko White died peacefully at home on September 28, 2022, at the age of 86. Fujiko was born in Okinawa Japan on October 4, 1935, one of six children. She completed high school and sewing school in Okinawa and went on to be an expert seamstress. In Okinawa, she met her husband of 58 years, Duane White, while he was stationed there as a U.S. Marine. Fujiko emigrated to the United States in 1964, living and raising her family in Colorado. Fujiko loved the mountains and the wide-open spaces of her chosen home.

Fuji worked hard her entire life, taking jobs from seamstress to waitress that allowed her to focus on raising her children: daughter, Kathy, and son, John. She enjoyed sewing, making clothes for her kids until they cried out for store-bought brands in middle-school, tailoring clothes for family and friends, and making doll clothes for her granddaughter, Artemis. She sewed until she could no longer thread a needle.

Fuji was also a gardener, like her father. She loved moving dirt around and creating wild, chaotic spaces in the ordered suburbs of Lakewood. Fuji was an amazing baker, with cheesecakes to die for and an unbeatable variety of cookies every year at Christmas. Fuji was a reader, often found in a quiet corner with a book. She loved classical music, Japanese music, traditional Japanese dance, singing and Japanese Okinawan art.

Fuji wasn’t only defined by these domestic arts. She was also a fierce competitor who loved to gamble. A skilled poker player, Fuji enjoyed jaunts up to the hills and trips to Vegas. She played bingo with friends and was always in the side pot hustle on Nisei bowling league nights. She played solitaire most mornings and was known to make her kids play a round of poker for their lunch money. She loved to bowl, joining leagues with Duane and bowling weekly until she could no long heft the ball down the lane. And Fuji was unbeatable at ping pong, the ranking family champ who defended her title with verve even against her young kids.

Most of all, Fujiko had a big heart. She loved her friends and family – her siblings and parents, her husband Duane, her children Kathy and John, their partners Peter and Amie, her beloved niece, Akemi and partner Daisuke, her granddaughter, Artemis, and all the children of the family. Fujiko White was the most fearless, generous, thoughtful and beautiful person. She was utterly unique. There are no words that can capture her strength and spirit or express how much we will miss her.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Taru and Kamaru Agena, her sisters Yoshiko, Fusako and Hatsue, brother, Seiko, and husband, Duane. She is survived by her son John White and his partner Amie Schrader, daughter, Kathy White and her partner Peter Lindstrom, granddaughter Artemis White-Lindstrom, brother Seiei Agena of Okinawa, Japan, niece Akemi Asano and her husband Daisuke Asano of Yokohama Japan.

Private memorial services will be held on October 22, 2022.