May Uttal Obituary

"Why did you go, May-San?" It was too soon when May Uttal (Michiye Nishimura) passed away on April 15, 2023. Until then, she was of sound mind and healthy body. Like the rest of her life, she made a valiant effort to survive after falling down and hitting her head on Dec 23, 2022, and she almost made it.

May was born May 28, 1930, in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of a Japanese picture bride and Japanese sojourner from Kumamoto, Japan. At 9 years old, in1939, her family had gone back to visit in Nagasaki. Then Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan and the US entered World War II. Her family was not allowed to return to the US, even though she was an American citizen. May went on to survive the Nagasaki atomic bomb in 1945, even though she was in the 5 km radius of the blast. She courageously returned to the United States in 1953 when she was 23, met Bill Uttal at Ohio State University. They were married for 64 years, until he passed away in 2017. She made a wonderful life with Bill, traveling widely with him, exploring every continent in this world, visiting as far north as the Arctic and as far south as Antarctica, all while laughing at his silly jokes. She walked the Great Wall of China, she rode a train across Siberia, she visited Thailand and lived in Phoenix, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Hawaii, and Australia as an adult. May was an expert in East Asian art and a talented artist. She enjoyed making flower arrangements, writing haiku and practicing many different art forms over the years (painting, drawing, pottery, sewing, weaving, Japanese and Chinese brush painting). Her home was like an art museum decorated with so many beautiful objects. She was adept with her hands creating beautiful brush paintings, needlepoint, and stuffed animals.

May Uttal was an extraordinary wife, mother and friend to many of all ages. She loved to read and shared her opinions in her book groups. She loved to listen to and talk about ideas, including world politics, events, people's happenings and families, and gossip. Her spirit was not tethered by judgment or pretense or convention. Her mind was wide open with curiosity and intellect, with generosity and grace. Bill Uttal was her encyclopedia until he died, then she turned to google. She loved walking. She loved starting her day eating her toast with peanut butter and blueberry jam and her coffee every morning. She was known for fancying pop tarts and merlot hour with her friends.

May was not romantic nor was she sentimental; but, oh, how she loved her family and her friends...fiercely. She was very proud of her three daughters and their husbands, Taneil and Rusty, Lynet and Dan, and Lisa and Jeff for their accomplishments, both professional and personal, as well as her 7 grandchildren David, Kalvin, Eli (wife Kelsey), Miranda (husband Boaz), Benji (wife Yuko), Elise, and Juliet and her 4 great-grandchildren (Oliver Bennet, Asaha Jody, Leo William, and Adria Mae). She was attached to her cat, Kiri, who was her alter ego. When her daughters wanted to know how she felt about what she was doing, they would ask how Kiri felt, and would get an opinion about how things were going. When asked how she lived so long, she said, "have friends of all ages." She was just as comfortable with her 2 year old great-grandson as her Japanese friends in their 90s, and the ones in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, some whom she had known for decades. May was timeless, she was comfortable writing by hand many letters to friends and family all over the world, as much as she was comfortable texting with her daughters every day and evening for many years.

She was known for her often wise opinions and participation in lunch and dinner party conversations. She was respectful, while fiercely independent. May's small size belied her enormous spirit, and hearts and lives were made bigger by her large presence. May would often tuck a work of origami into gifts that she gave. Those paper cranes always looked ready to fly, like May.

"Be at peace, May-San!"