Steveston lost one of its most revered residents last week.
Kay Sakata, who celebrated her 100th birthday in early March, passed away June 23, a few days after suffering a serious stroke.
She leaves behind a legion of family, friends and just passersby who marvelled at her immaculately tended garden on First Avenue near Moncton Street, right in the heart of Steveston Village.
“She had a phenomenal life,” said her daughter, Carol-Lyn Sakata. “She was always such a positive person, and a consummate gardener.”
Earlier this month, Kay was honoured as Richmond High School’s oldest graduate during this year’s commencement ceremony at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver.
At the event, Donna Matheson, Richmond Alumni Association president, read a speech Kay and her daughter wrote.
“I never imagined I would be at a high school graduation like this with almost 300 students graduating,” Matheson told the audience. “When I went to Richmond High School, it was from Grade 9 to 12, and it was located on Bridgeport Road. I lived in Steveston, by the river near where Britannia Shipyards is today. I took the Inter-urban tram from Steveston to Bridgeport to go to Richmond High School. When I started Richmond High School, there were 35 pupils, but in those days students had to quit school to go to work, so by Grade 12 there were only 11 students who graduated. We were called Matriculation Class of 1933-1934.
“To the graduating class of 2016, I wish you well and if you want to live to be 100, I say be happy, be thankful for all that you receive, and never think, or speak badly, of anyone.”
Carol-Lyn told the News her mother fell ill on June 18 and was admitted to the emergency department at Richmond Hospital. The following Thursday, she passed away quietly in her sleep.
“She was such a positive, happy person,” she said. “She was like that until the very end.”
Kay’s daughter-in-law, Lise Mercier, added that she had a very strong love of life, enjoyed travelling, playing gateball — a lawn game that is similar to croquet — and of course tending to her garden that became a focal point for plant lovers to see as they strolled through the village. Many visitors came away with a cutting or two for their own yards such was Kay’s generosity and willingness to share her love of gardening which came from growing up on her family’s seven-acre farm that was located on Garry Street, near the village.
Kay went to elementary school at nearby Lord Byng. When her family was interned during the Second World War in the B.C. Interior, she met a handsome, young fisherman, Shozo Sakata, and the two were married in Grand Forks in 1949.
They returned to Steveston shortly afterwards and moved into the house on First Avenue. They had two children, Carol-Lyn and Adam.
A good part of her working life, through the 1960s and ‘70s, was spent at the local cannery (B.C. Packers). And as a skilled seamstress, she would teach sewing at the local Buddhist temple and on the second floor of the Hepworth building in Steveston Village.
But it was her love of gardening that shined through. Many of the flowers she grew were displayed in the annual Steveston Salmon Festival’s Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) competitions. She also served as parade marshal at the Salmon Festival in 2006.
Kay was in her 80s when she declared to family that she wanted to see the world. And she had seen most of it, save for South America. She recently had her passport renewed in hopes of one day travelling again.
In her later years, she required the use of a wheelchair, but with care attendants she still lived in her own home.
When the News asked her in March if she had any secrets to her longevity, Kay laughed and said, “I don’t really know. I never imagined getting to be 100. I guess being happy helped.”
A funeral service for her was held June 28 at the Steveston Buddhist temple.
