Emiko Miranda passed away at home February 23 just short of her 99th birthday. She was born in Iwate Ken, Japan on March 22, 1923. She was raised in Japan and as a young woman drove a bus in Tokyo, which was very rare for a female to do at that time.

She met, and married, Celso (Cecil) M. Miranda in the chapel at St. Luke’s Hospital in Tokyo, where Cecil worked. Her husband was born 1897. She was 27 and he was 54. He was a Phillipine/American and had been an X-ray tech in the US Army 1942 through 1946. He had spent considerable time in Japan. They moved to the United States after they were married. They lived in several places in the US before settling back in Eureka, where his family was.

Emiko worked many jobs in her life from driving the bus in Tokyo to working at the County Hospital in Eureka, and later working at the Eureka Elk’s Lodge for years cooking, hosting and organizing parties. They had one daughter, Katherine, who was born in Japan. Cecil and Katherine preceded Emiko in death in 1984 and 2000, respectively.

Emiko sang Japanese Karaoke for many years, often going to San Francisco to sing in competitions. She always dressed in full Japanese regalia with beautiful kimonos. She loved singing locally with her Japanese friends in Eureka. Emiko’s friends Alex Duperior, Clint and Sue Hunter and Wanda Wahlund have helped her through the years after she no longer drove cars, to get to doctor appointments, shopping and getting to her beloved Bingo. She was a familiar face at the Cher-ae Heights Casino and on the Bingo Bus (pre-COVID), where she always sat in the front seat next to the driver. She played bingo 4-5 days a week.

She will be missed by her many friends in the Japanese community, at Bingo and those that were like family to her.

Services for Emiko will be at Sanders Funeral Home on March 8 at 11 a.m.

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