SHIMIZU, Shigeko Polly
Our dear sister, Polly, passed away on Monday, March 7, 2022 at The Brant Centre in Burlington, ON in her 94th year. Polly was predeceased by her husband Bill Tadao Naruse, her parents Toshiro and Mita Shimizu and her sister Sachiko Betty Shimizu (James). She is survived by her sister Marie Murase (Yoji), brothers John, Gordon (Sadako) and Ron (Edy Goto) and stepson Richard Naruse (Josephine). She will be missed by her nephews and nieces Marianne Welbourn (Craig), Paul Murase, Aja and Tomoe Goto Shimizu and grandsons Oliver and Emerson Naruse and grandnephew and nieces Kara, Jay, Etienne and Audrey.
Polly was born in Ucluelet B.C. on November 22, 1928. She often reminisced of growing up in a rural fishing village in the 1930s, going to the local public school and after school, attending Japanese language school for an additional two hours. She was a very competitive person and excelled in her lessons. In 1942, the family was forcibly evacuated by the federal government and placed into an internment camp in interior B.C. for the duration of WW2. As the B.C. government did not allow all Japanese Canadians to remain in the province after the war, the family moved eastward to Ontario. As the family moved east, with her education interrupted, Polly briefly worked as a cook in a lumber camp in Neys, Ontario and later as a domestic in Hamilton where she managed to complete a secretarial course at Park Business College. Upon graduation Polly was employed by Herbert S. Mills China Shop for a few years and later by the Manufacturers Life Insurance Company where she diligently worked for the next 30 years. She then joined the federal civil service and worked at Revenue Canada for several more years before taking retirement.
In Hamilton, Polly was an active member of The Anglican Church joining congregations at Christ Church Cathedral and St. Timothy’s Anglican Churches. She placed great value on compassion, honesty and fair play. She enjoyed bowling with the St. Timothy’s bowling club and the Japanese Canadian Nisei social clubs. She took a very active part in the 1988 Japanese Canadian Redress Campaign through the Hamilton chapter of National Association of Japanese Canadians. She took keen interest in Japanese flower arranging and was secretary of the Hamilton chapter of Ikenobu Society for many years during which time she attained several rankings enabling her to teach classes in Ikebana. Her pursuit of Ikebana took her to Japan for master classes and to various centres in North America.
From a young age, Polly took care of the family along with her older sister Betty. She served as translator for Mom and Dad whose first language was Japanese and helped the family navigate through the dreadful confusion of being forcibly evacuated from their peaceful home in Spring Cove, Ucluelet; all possessions confiscated and later sold without permission, including Father’s fishing boat and being exiled from B.C. after the war. She worked hard to help the family build a new home in Hamilton and supported her siblings through their education, aspirations and careers. She looked after Father in his 80s at home and then into his 90s by duly visiting him weekly to spend the day with him at Castleview Wychwood in Toronto. She was devoted to Mom, Dad and to the rest of us and did this at some cost to her own life by remaining single into her senior years.
Her late marriage to a kind and generous Bill Naruse was blessed with travel to Alaska, Japan, Hawaii and the east and west coast of Canada. Her vast trove of photos of these trips clearly reflected the pleasure of their companionship.
It saddens us to see Polly fall prey to progressive dementia in her latter years. As she left reality and slid into her world of illusions, we are thankful that she did not lose her recognition of us, her smile and her loving care.
And so, it is with much sadness and gratefulness that we say goodbye to our dear and loving sister.
Visitation at SMITH’S FUNERAL HOME, 1167 Guelph Line (one stoplight north of QEW), BURLINGTON (905-632-3333), on Thursday, March 10, 2022 from 12 p.m. until the time of a Funeral Service at 1 p.m. Interment at Woodland Cemetery to follow. In lieu of flowers or koden, please donate to:
Hamilton Chapter of the National Ass’n of Japanese Canadians
45 Hempstead Drive
Hamilton, ON L8W 2Y6
hamiltonnajc@gmail.com
Read Less
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Shigeko Polly Shimizu Monday March 7th 2022..
Death notice for the town of: , Province: Ontario