Judith Okawa

Services for Judith (Bessai) Okawa, 79, of Concord Township, will be at 2 PM on Friday, November 14, 2025 at Chardon United Methodist Church, 515 North Street, Chardon.

The family will receive friends from 1-2 PM, prior to the service at the Church.

Mrs. Okawa passed away peacefully on Friday, November 7, 2025 at David Simpson Hospice House in Cleveland.

Born October 12, 1946 in East Cleveland, she was raised in Willoughby and lived in Illinois, New York, and Japan before returning to Concord Township where she spent the past 20 years.

She was a graduate of Willoughby South High School and earned her Bachelor’s degree in psychology at Cleveland State University, later earning her Master’s degree in research psychology from Cleveland State University and worked as a research analyst for Counseling Center of the University of Illinois, where she met her husband, Hideaki Okawa.

She liked reading books till the end of her life, practiced Japanese tea ceremony, and enjoyed Zentangle art. When she lived in Japan with her husband, she enjoyed her life there, visiting temples and shrines.

Survivors are her husband of 38 years, Hideaki, her son, Seiji, and daughter-in-law, Satoko.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert J. and Helen L. (Havens) Bessai.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages contributions to Hospice of the Western Reserve, Inc., PO Box 72101, Cleveland, OH 44194-0002 or online at www.hospicewr.org/donate