Miyoko Morimoto Mizuki, born on May 25, 1932, in Los Angeles, to Charles Isamu and Shizuye Morimoto, passed away on May 9, 2026.

Miyoko was born in the home where her parents lived on Vermont Ave. near Exposition Park. She lived there until she was five years old, when the family moved to Townsend Ave. in Boyle Heights. Miyoko attended Malabar St. Elementary School. At the 1936 Nisei Festival, sponsored by the Japanese American Citizens League, Miyoko participated in the fashion show and won first prize for the Better Baby Citizens Contest.

In 1941, the Morimoto family moved to 1249 ½ N. Virgil St. on the outskirts of Hollywood. For a brief time before being interned at Manzanar, Miyoko and her father attended Mount Hollywood Congregational Church, whose pastor was Dr. Allan Hunter.

From Manzanar, the family was sent to Tule Lake. After WWII, Miyoko’s family moved to Hiroshima, Japan. Miyoko attended Hiroshima Jogakuin (Hiroshima Women’s Institute) where she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. In 1952, Miyoko returned to the United States to study at Chicago Evangelistic Institute, which had moved to University Park, Iowa. Miyoko received her diploma in Bible in 1955.

Dr. Allan Hunter visited the Morimoto family several times when they were in Manzanar. He and the church sent care packages to them when they lived in Hiroshima. Miyoko wrote to Dr. Hunter informing him of her engagement to be married, and he gave his wholehearted approval.

In 1954, Miyoko met John Mizuki when both were working in Chicago during the summer break and attending the Japanese Church of Jesus Christ. The Rev. Andrew Oyama, the pastor of the church, and the Rev. Larry Burr officiated their wedding on June 11, 1955. Miyoko and John went to Brazil, where John served as the Academic Dean of the Free Methodist Seminary and pastored the Mirandopolis Free Methodist Church. In 1956, Miyoko gave birth to their first son, Paulo, followed by Estevão in 1958, Ruy in 1960, and their daughter, Priscila, in 1963.

In 1967, the Mizuki family moved to Los Angeles, where John, with Miyoko’s support, pastored the Glendale Free Methodist Church and, later, began his doctoral studies at the School of World Mission of Fuller Theological Seminary.

Miyoko faithfully served alongside John as he was appointed to serve the Japanese-language divisions of the Free Methodist churches of Glendale, Mission Valley, Anaheim, Orange Coast, Moreno Valley and Riverside, and when John served as the superintendent of the Pacific Coast Japanese Conference of the Free Methodist Church from 1985-1988.

When John served as the director of JEC (Japanese Evangelization Center) from 1990 to 2016, Miyoko tirelessly worked to help write, print, fold, address and mail the newsletters. Miyoko graciously hosted the monthly Japanese language Bible Study group in their home until 2012.

Miyoko and John had the gift of hospitality. They often hosted and provided lodging for guests from Brazil and Japan; they often hosted large gatherings for the holidays, inviting foreign students and visitors. When the children were growing up in Sun Valley, Miyoko welcomed the neighborhood children who came to visit and often provided snacks and/or meals for them.

Miyoko was predeceased by John Mizuki, her husband of 61 years. Miyoko is survived by sons, Paul (Rie), Steve (Naomi) and Ruy (Susan), and daughter, Priscila (John) Stahl; grandchildren, Psalm (Nathan) Haseley, Sarah (Kyle) Wolff, Daniel (Kellie), Irene (Rene Sotelo), Luke (Mizu), James (fiancée Vanessa Vincent) and John (Elizabeth Bryant); great-grandchildren, Josiah, Celeste and Serenity Haseley, Eliana and Landon Wolff; sister Keiko Kano, niece, Manami Kano (fiancé Yuki Ishizuka) and nephew, Lenn (Jessie) Kano; and other relatives in the United States and Japan.

The words from Proverbs 31:28-31 are true of Miyoko:

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

A Celebration of Life reception will be held on Saturday, July 11, at 1:00 PM, at the Anaheim Revive Church, 1001 N. Mayflower St., Anaheim, California. The reception will be livestreamed on Boxcast; the link is https://bit.ly/miyokomizuki.

Please use the following link to RSVP, so the family can adequately prepare for the reception: https://bit.ly/4aBZ6nE

A Private Burial Service took place on Friday, June 5, at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.