Yoko Sasaki Downey

Yoko Sasaki Downey peacefully passed away at home surrounded by family on Sunday, September 8, 2024. She was 92 years old.

She was the firstborn child of Tadashi and Matsuko Sasaki who lived in the town of Itsukamachi in the Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. "Yoko" means Ocean Child. She has two sisters, Taeko and Keiko; and a brother, Jumbo, who preceded her in death along with her parents, Tadashi and Matsuko.

Also, preceding her in death was her beloved husband of 58 years, Stafford A. Downey, whom she met in Yokohama Japan. Sergeant Downey was a WWII, Korean, and Vietnam War veteran.

She became a believer in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior in Estancia, New Mexico, around 1962. She was baptized and has attended worship most of her adult life, including Montgomery and Mountainside Church of Christ in Albuquerque. She has always treasured a Japanese Bible gifted her by a missionary while visiting family in Japan.

Yoko loved to sew, embroider, crotchet, Japanese watercolor, create cards, make silver and turquoise jewelry, and read daily devotionals in English using her Japanese Bible to help translate. Watching TV occupied much of her time in later years. She loved travel shows on Channel Five, any type of musical, and Elvis movies.

She will be greatly missed by her children, Shirley Stout, and Pat Downey, as well as her one grandson, Derek Stout. She has numerous in-laws, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends in both Japan and America.

A visitation will be held Tuesday, September 17, 2024, beginning at 10:00 a.m., followed by a funeral service at 10:30 a.m., at the FRENCH - Lomas Chapel, with a light Asian/American themed reception following. She will be interred with her husband at the Santa Fe National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Albuquerque Christian Children’s Home, 5700 Winter Haven Rd. NW- Albuquerque, NM 87120.