Shigeko Yamamuro Miles

Shigeko Yamamuro Miles, 95, died peacefully at her residence at Coventry Place Assisted Living, San Francisco, California on March 8, 2022.

Shigeko was born in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan. At the time of her birth, Shibuya was an unincorporated village. At her death, Shibuya has grown to be a major commercial and finance center of Japan. This is representative of the passage of time and the rich, full life that Shigeko led.

Shigeko survived the firebombing air raids on Tokyo during World War II. She aspired to become a doctor and briefly attended medical school. This dream was cut short by the devastation of war and premature death of her father, Kinnosuke. During the Allied Occupation of Japan, Shigeko helped support her widowed mother and younger siblings by working as a housemaid and later a clerk typist at Tachikawa Air Force Base.

In 1966, she began a pen correspondence with Richard Charles Miles of Idaho Falls, Idaho. They married at the American Embassy in Tokyo on January 26, 1967. Shigeko immigrated to Idaho and became step-mother to Richard’s five children.

During their happy 47 years of marriage, Shigeko and Richard resided in Idaho Falls, Idaho and Monterey, California. They also enjoyed living two years in Heidelberg, Germany.

Shigeko was active in her Buddhist Church. She was a talented seamstress and enjoyed making clothing for her step-children. As a social endeavor with friends, she began taking oil painting classes in her sixties. She soon became an accomplished artist. She took pride that her paintings were displayed in galleries on Cannery Row and at the Navy Post-Graduate School in Monterey, California.

Shigeko is preceded in death by her husband, Richard Charles Miles; a step-son, Richard Michael Miles; her parents, Kinnosuke and Itoko and two sisters and a brother.


Shigeko is survived by two sisters, Naoko Kubo and Akiko Kubo of Tokyo, Japan and four step-daughters, Nancy Kelley of Huntsville, Alabama; Patricia Hall of Tucson, Arizona (Gene), Roxanne Long of Vinton, Virginia (Jim) and Kelly Daikoku of San Francisco, California (Yoshio). In addition, she is loved and will be missed by her many grandchildren and great-children.

The family would like to thank the community at Coventry Place for their kind care and friendship during the eight years that Shigeko resided there. Gratitude also to By the Bay Health for their support during hospice.









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