Sunday, March 19, 2017
– Mom arrives at Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center
(3288 Moanalua Rd, Honolulu, HI 96819)
3/20/17 – Susan calls from Connecticut, plans to come to Hawaii 3/31 to 4/2. Kevin visits Kaiser, speaks to Mom and holds her hands.
3/22/17 – Beautiful flowers are given by Waialae Baptist Church friends and Mark & Lori Admiral (Claudine Street neighbors).
3/23/17 – Keith calls from Nashville, Tennessee, plans to relocate to Hawaii.
3/24/17 – A feeding tube is administered to Mom at night. Mom’s facial “color” looks good.
3/26/17 – Paul and Judy Good (Waialae Baptist Church friends) visit. Later, Jane Kuroiwa (WBC friend) and Norma Kim (WBC friend and Farrington High School classmate) visit. Kats and Helen Taura (WBC friends) have also visited. Jane Kuroiwa has visited multiple times.
3/27/17 – Mom is moved to first floor Room 119. Colleen arrives at Kaiser at 10:45am and shares fond memories and Bible verses with Mom. Keith also speaks to Mom (via flip-phone speaker) mostly about God’s love and grace.
3/28/17 – Mom looks much stronger! Mom is awake with eyes opened much of the day. Mom moves her head from side to side, can lift both arms and squeeze fingers and shake her feet.
3/30/17 – Mom had another good day! Holding both arms up for a minute (per aide), squeezing sponge, moving and lifting feet, saying “Hello” softly. Paul and Judy Good (WBC friends) visit at 12:30pm. The Goods had dinner with Mom at Zippys Kahala the night before Mom’s ER visit (Mom had Portuguese bean soup).
3/31/17 – Susan arrives from LAX at 8:05pm American Airlines #297.
Monday, April 3, 2017
– Mom arrives at the OAHU CARE FACILITY (1808 S Beretania St, Honolulu, HI 96826)
4/13/17 – Keith’s Thursday “baseball voicemail” is played into Mom's ear multiple times. A prayer is offered to the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, for grace and mercy and forgiveness and to remember and receive Mom's spirit in Heaven as part of the Bride. Mom is surely wide-eyed and lucid during this prayer.
April 14, 2017 (Good Friday)
– Mom passes very peacefully in hospice care in late-morning sunlight at the Oahu Care Facility with family at her side. Kevin visits Waialae Baptist Church and informs Pastor Cheryl Sanders (in person) and Donna Edwards (phone call) of Mom's passing.
4/17/17 – Susan's “ninja card” from Connecticut arrives in the mail
4/17/17 – Ruth Ninomiya Letter / Waialae Baptist Love (PDF attachment) is emailed to Pastor Cheryl Sanders and Jane Kuroiwa (WBC secretary)
To: Waialae Baptist Church, Jane Kuroiwa, Paul and Judy Good, Donna Edwards, Norma Kim, Anita Choy, Evelyn Morimoto, Karen Cheng, Kats and Helen Taura, Glenn and Pam Okinaga, Ron and Lily Sumida, Pastors Matt and Cheryl Sanders and other WBC friends I have failed to mention (forgive spelling mistakes)
From: Ruth Ninomiya’s family
Re: Ruth Ninomiya’s passing and Waialae Baptist Church love
Date: 4/17/17
Our mother Ruth Ninomiya passed very peacefully in hospice care in late-morning sunlight Friday April 14 (Good Friday) at the Oahu Care Facility with family at her side.
Our mother’s cup overflowed with comfort, love, hope, joy and forgiveness during these last four weeks because of the gracious visitations and loving words/gifts bestowed from those mentioned above and other Waialae Baptist brothers and sisters in Christ. Jane Kuroiwa’s passion, Paul & Judy Good’s wisdom, Ron Sumida’s heart from Pennsylvania, Norma Kim’s fond remembrances, Mom’s foot reflexology massage (Anita Choy’s counsel) and apologist Ravi Zacharias’s words (Donna Edward’s counsel) are just a few examples of acts of kindness abundantly received.
We had a prayer with Mom Thursday night (April 13) where we repeatedly asked the Bridegroom for grace and mercy and forgiveness and to remember and receive our mother’s spirit in Heaven as part of the Bride. Mom was surely wide-eyed and lucid during this prayer. Christ Jesus mercifully interceded on our behalf the next morning.
Our mom (and dad Kataichi “Kats”) fought the good fight Father God set before them and kept the faith till the finish line due in large part to servants and slaves of Lord Jesus at Waialae Baptist providing fellowship, love, patience and spiritual manna in times of abundance and also during Christian wildernesses decade after decade after decade.
Kevin Ninomiya
Keith Ninomiya
Susan Colby
Colleen Uyematsu
4/18/17 – Daryl Terada is notified of Mom's passing at 1311 Osorio Place. Cousin Daryl is taking care of his mother Aunty Janet Terada, age 93. Daryl has informed cousin Dwight Terada of Mom's passing.
3:00PM, May 1, 2017 - Mom's Funeral Service at Diamond Head
Cemetery near Dad
In Attendance: Pastor Matt Sanders, Walter & Janet Hironaka, Mark Hironaka, Mark & Lori Admiral, Melita Agpaoa, Lisa (van driver), Ryan & Sheri Uyematsu, Colleen Uyematsu, Keith Ninomiya, Kevin Ninomiya
I wanted to begin with one of Mom’s favorite verses…
PSALM 8 – 1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
*** (Cousin Darryl Terada) Your mom was a generous person and helped those in need. Of all the memories, that's what I'll remember about her.
KEITH'S REMEMBRANCES:
- all the meals Mom prepared for family/children, meals for international students at UH-Manoa (Baptist Student Union), dishes for Wednesday fellowship suppers at Waialae Baptist, many holiday gatherings (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s), packed lunches in old-fashioned metal boxes for summer fun, became a very good self-taught cook over the years, teaching herself to roll sushi, baking all kinds of ethnic dishes
- Dad for many years grew vegetables/fruits in the garden including herbs and spices, Mom & Dad would harvest for meals (e.g. avocados to make guacamole dip), fruits/vegetables for meals, snacks and desserts
[from Colleen] when someone said they liked something she cooked Mom was always happy to make it again for them, Mom was always willing to step in at church like for nursery duty
- Mom’s many giving of gifts for world hunger, Waialae Baptist tithes to homeless and church members in need, many regular monthly gifts to Christian philanthropic ministries including: Samaritan’s Purse, President Franklin Graham’s ministry, World Vision, Voice of the Martyrs, Good News Mission (local Hawaii prison ministry)
- Mom exercised her spiritual gifts of giving, service and mercy: cooking meals, giving time/money, extending mercy to those in need like the homeless
* Mom was a woman of strength, honesty, courage, passion, expression, and industry.
* Mom always exhorted her family to attend Sunday school and worship service. Her husband, our dad, was granted the privilege of being a deacon, usher, Sunday school teacher and greeter at church, and her children have received unmerited favor, mercy and grace from the Lord Jesus Christ in the abundances and also in the trials and storms of life.
* Mom was blessed with gifts from God. She was an attentive listener, quick at typing, adept at shorthand, knowledgeable of punctuation, patient, conscientious, able to think critically, and had a comprehensive understanding of grammar and spelling intricacies.
* Mom overflowed with comfort, love, hope, joy and forgiveness during her last four weeks because of the gracious visitations and loving words/gifts bestowed from Waialae Baptist brothers and sisters in Christ. Jane Kuroiwa’s passion, Paul & Judy Good’s wisdom, Ron Sumida’s heart from Pennsylvania, Norma Kim’s fond remembrances, Mom’s foot reflexology massage (Anita Choy’s counsel) and apologist Ravi Zacharias’s words (Donna Edward’s counsel) are just a few examples of acts of kindness abundantly received.
* We had a prayer with Mom Thursday night (April 13) where we repeatedly asked the Lord for grace and mercy and forgiveness and to remember and receive our mother’s spirit in Heaven as part of the Bride. Christ Jesus mercifully interceded on our behalf the next morning.
* Our mom (and dad Kataichi “Kats”) fought the good fight Father God set before them and kept the faith till the finish line due in large part to followers of Lord Jesus providing fellowship, love, patience and spiritual manna in times of plenty and also during Christian wildernesses decade after decade.
I’d like to end with… JOHN 11:17–27
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
