EUNICE AKIKO WATANABE

1927 - 2017

MOUNT PROSPECT - Eunice Akiko (Kumagai) Watanabe, 89, of Arlington Heights, formerly of Mount Prospect, passed away on Friday, 30 June 2017. Born on Saturday, 3 December 1927, in Sacramento, CA, she was the daughter of the late Ikuji Kumagai and the late Nobuyo (Ryugo) formerly of Denver, CO. Eunice was a loving grandmother, constantly doting on her grandchildren. She enjoyed taking care of them, cooking for them and making sure they were eating enough. You would often hear her say "Have you had enough* Have another helping." She raised her children to cook well too and took pride in the holiday meals they would make together. When she wasn't with family, you could find her sitting at home playing solitaire or going to see the latest movie. Eunice loved to garden and planted many beautiful roses at her house in Mt. Prospect. She also enjoyed sewing and made clothing for herself and her family. Together with her family and friends she went on frequent trips to Door County and occasional international trips like her vacations to Japan and Italy. Some of the family's happiest times were while camping in Door County. They owned a trailer, which you could always find parked at Spike Horn Campground in Baileys Harbor. Her husband George loved to document their travels and their different moves. Eunice often spoke of the move to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She liked to share memories of the inexpensive college meals she would cook for George there, like when she would saute sliced pork and canned Chinese vegetables. They looked back very fondly on their time at U of I and all their children ended up attending the very same school. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, George Watanabe, son of the late Matsuya Watanabe and the late Yachiyo (Katana) Watanabe formerly of Chicago. Eunice is survived by three children, Sarah Murphy (Jonathan) of Buffalo Grove, David Watanabe (Martha) of Austin, TX, and Karen Perritt (Steven) of Vernon Hills; three siblings, Hisashi 'Butch' Kumagai of Minneapolis, MN, Sami 'Samuel' Kumagai (Tomoye) of Denver, CO, and Toshiko 'Tosh' Takaoka of Buffalo Grove; seven grandchildren, Daniel Murphy, Kristin Murphy, Matthew Watanabe, Nicholas Watanabe, Kathryn Perritt, Tyler Perritt, Nathaniel Perritt. Eunice was preceded in death by five siblings, Hatsuye 'Hotsy' (Kumagai) Miyauchi of Yakima, WA, Tsutomu 'Ben' Kumagai of Denver, CO, Kiyoshi Kumagai of Denver, CO, Kikuo Kumagai of Sacramento, CA, and Dr. Tamio 'Tom' Kumagai of Denver, CO. Visitation Wednesday July 5, 4 :00 p.m. until time of Funeral Services 7 :00 p.m. at Friedrichs Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Road (at Northwest Highway), Mount Prospect, IL 60056. Interment at Memory Gardens Cemetery, 2501 East Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL 60004. Thursday July 6, 11:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Northwest Community Hospital Foundation at nch.org/about-nch/nch-foundation. Funeral information, 847-255-7800 or www.friedrichsfh.com.