Obituaries for Sept. 6, 2015

Obituaries for Sept. 6, 2015

Mitsue Arita Nogami

Mitsue Arita Nogami of Lihue, passed away at home on March 14, 2015, at the age of 100. She was born on Aug. 30, 1914 in Koloa, Kauai, and was a retired florist.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Harry Yoshihiro Nogami; sons, Stanley and Lincoln Nogami; brothers, Yoichi and Masaharu Arita; sisters, Hatsuyo Yoshimura, Shizue Okano and Kikue Doi.

She is survived by her son, Wilfred of Honolulu; daughters, Elaine Fukushima of Lihue and Harriet Junttonen of New York; five grandchildren; six great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial and inurnment service were held in Aug. 2, 2015.

Arrangements were handled by Garden Island Mortuary, Ltd.

John Ross Robson

John Ross Robson, a resident of Holladay Park Plaza, Portland Oregon, for the last four years, died of respiratory failure on Aug. 22, 2015, at age of 86. He Robson was born on Nov. 6, 1928, in Seattle, Washigton.

Ross attended Whitworth University, graduated from University of Washington and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Ordained into the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. in 1953, he served churches in Calgary Alberta, Canada; Williston and Fargo, North Dakota and First Presbyterian Church, Omaha, Nebraska, where he was honored as Pastor Emeritus.

Ross is survived by his wife of 62 years, Margaret (Peg) and four children, Peter (Joanne), John Daniel, Kauai; Beth Hamstra (Kent), Denver, Colorado and Tim (Lisa) Portland; surrogate parents for Prakash Mathew (Sandy) Fargo, North Dakota; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren and brother, Robert (Pete) Robson, Rochester, New York.

In retirement in Port Ludlow, Washigton, Ross chaired the greenbelt committee and had leading roles in the community theater productions. For a time Ross served as an interim minister for the Lihue United Church, Kauai. In addition he assisted small churches on the Olympic Peninsula and throughout the world.

In Bali, Indonesia; Paris and Strasbourg, France; and Vienna, Austria, he served English speaking churches. He helped with a land purchase for a school in Mexico, in establishment of a water system in West Timor, and with a housing project in a small village in El Salvador.

Not only was Ross a good shepherd to his flocks, he was concerned about the plight of those with less opportunity for advancement. In Williston and Fargo he established schools for mentally-challenged children who were at that time being hidden in their homes.

He was an original member of the Fargo Housing authority. In Omaha, he with the congregation, established Presbyterian Metropolitan Ministry of Omaha — PMMO, a four-prong service to those in need. His most challenging project was Wellspring, a program to help women in prostitution.

In 1979 Jamestown University, Jamestown, North Dakota, conferred on Ross an honorary D.D. degree. In 1980, he was keynote speaker for the Church of South India Convention in Mallapalley, Kerala, India. Peg and he were fortunate to spend a half hour with Mother Teresa at her convent in the then Calcutta, India.

Memorial Services will be held later in September in Minnesota.

Elsie ‘Lani’ Soto

Elsie “Lani” Soto of Kapaa, formerly of Nawilwili, Kauai, passed away on Aug. 28, 2015, at the age of 74. Born on April 9, 1941, in Lihue, Kauai, she was a house wife.

Elsie was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Elsie Nakamura; husband, Louis Soto; brothers, Joseph Nakamura Jr., Mitchell Nakamura and Philbert Nakamura and sister, Lana Lopes.

She is survived by her son, Elmer Conant; daughter, Beatrice (Joshua) Conant; brother, William Nakamura; sister, Madeline Nakamura; three grandchildren; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

A Celebration of Life will take place on Sept. 25, 2015, at Borthwick Kauai Mortuary Chapel.

Visitation at 9 a.m. followed by Service at 10 a.m. with Burial to follow at Kauai Memorial Gardens.

Arrangements by Borthwick Kauai Mortuary Koloa.