Yukiko Kachi

A Love Letter.

It is with deep and enduring sadness that the Kachi Family announces the sudden passing of Yukiko Kachi at the age of 83.

Yukiko was the loving wife of Hiroshi and devoted mother to three sons – Nanao (Lisa), Mitsuru (Marijan) and Masato (Charlotte) and doting grandmother to Miya and Hiro. 

She dedicated herself to her family, but she was more than just simply a homemaker.

As her neighbours will attest – she was an avid gardener – taking great pride in her lawn and the flowers and shrubs that adorned the beds lining the front of her home.  Neighbours’ casual comments on the beauty of her front garden would more often than not lead into discussions about the merits of bone meal, cow manure and peat moss, and would occasionally touch upon her ongoing war with the neighbourhood squirrels.  Apparently her tulips are an irresistible delicacy to these bushy tailed bandits.

She was also an active member of the community.  When her sons were young, she volunteered to help students at Manor Park Public School with the intricacies of math and French in an era before Educational Assistants, and she introduced the wonders of Japanese cuisine to her neighbours during popular evening community classes.

And it is not surprising that these evening classes were so popular.  If you have ever had the good fortune of being invited to a Kachi Family event where Yukiko was cooking, you came away feeling well loved and taken care of.  Japanese restaurants were forever ruined for all involved by her unsurpassed dishes – her gyoza, “tamago”, tofu, apricot chicken and tempura being some fan favourites.

Yukiko was not always the most expressive person – her demure demeanour reflecting her Japanese upbringing – but she expressed her love for family and friends through her cooking – and we all came away knowing that we were truly well loved.

However, her demure demeanour hid a mischievous spirit – which shone through when she laughed and when we played “7s” and Mexican Train.  She would declare to the table that she was helping someone, when it was clear the card or tile she played was far from helpful.  Echoes of this mischievous spirit live on in her beloved grandchildren Miya and Hiro.

And though she was pragmatic and level headed – the rock of the family – she was a romantic at heart – marrying for love and leaving Japan for an adventure in Canada with her soulmate.  That love story was temporarily interrupted with the passing of Hiroshi eight years ago, but we are all comforted by the fact that that love story now continues where it left off.

Her wish was for her sons was find and experience a love like that and she was delighted to welcome into the family her daughters-in-law, Lisa, Marijan and Charlotte – whom she truly considered to be daughters.

The tears we shed today are not only due to the sadness of her passing, but it is sadness for ourselves that our lives will be a little less mischievous and our hearts a little less full.

A private service will be held for family and close family friends. 

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Ottawa Food Bank in Yukiko’s memory.  She believed no one should go hungry and she would be pleased that her passing will help put food on the tables of people who are truly in need.