Emiko Vasquez (nee Goto), 88, of Ewa Beach, passed away on November 19, 2020, after a long battle with interstitial lung disease. Emiko was born in the city of Fukuoka, in Kyushu, Japan. She married at a young age and had a son, but soon divorced. She met Juan ("Tony") Vasquez, a Navy aviation mechanic while working in Tokyo and the two were married in the spring of 1960. With her son, Emiko came to the U.S. in fall of that year. Tony's career took them to various stations around the Pacific, but they settled in Ewa Beach, Hawaii in 1971. Emiko was a homemaker and worked as a housekeeper for several families on Oahu. Her interests included reading Japanese history, sewing, traveling, and getting together regularly in Ewa Beach with a circle of other Japanese women who married American servicemen.

Emiko, written this way, 笑子, means "smiling child," and to hear so many people describe her, she certainly lived up to it. Her name became more apt after her grandchildren were born and they blessed her with her fondest memories. She set a fine example to live a good life as a humble and decent human being. She will be missed for her humility, generosity, and her ever-sunny disposition. She is survived by her husband Tony, son Kosuke Vasquez, of Alexandria, Virginia, and two grandchildren.