Miyoko Sugano Blackford – Japanese Translator

 

Miyoko Sugano Blackford was born on March 6, 1922 in Japan.  She was the daughter of Yoshiyuki and Mitsu Sugano, descendants of the Samurai family. Miyoko was the youngest of the three children and the family lived in the southwest area of Japan.

Miyoko was educated at a finishing school where she learned the Japanese culture of tea ceremony. This quiet celebration of the service is performed with grace and beauty, skills that Miyoko acquired and illustrated throughout her life. In her young adult life, Miyoko became an accomplished ice-skater and was on the Japanese Olympic team. Her team was unable to compete due to World War II, but they ultimately did perform for an audience after the war that included General Douglas A. MacArthur.

As was her family’s custom, Miyoko first married Takashi Fukuyama in an arranged marriage. Later after immigrating to the United States, her second marriage was to Ethell Moore Blackford, Jr.  Ethell was born in Trigg County, Kentucky on December 8, 1919, the son of Ethell Moore Blackford, Sr. and Ella Mae Thomas Blackford. Ethell and Miyoko were the parents of one child, Nancy Sugano Blackford.

Miyoko and Ethell settled in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in April 1956. Miyoko worked as a seamstress for Arnold’s, a high-fashion women’s clothing store in Hopkinsville, for many years. When the store closed, she worked at The Showcase, a bridal and formalwear store.

During her many years living in Hopkinsville, Miyoko was frequently called upon to serve as a Japanese language translator by the Japanese industries that located in Hopkinsville. In addition to serving as a translator, she also assisted the wives and children of the company employees as they acclimated to the community. Further, she frequently made herself available to provide a sense of familiarity for Japanese exchange students attending local high schools.

Ethell Blackford, Jr. died on October 3, 1975 and was buried in the East End Cemetery in Cadiz, Kentucky.  Miyoko continued to live in Hopkinsville until 2016 when she moved to Kingwood, Texas to be near her daughter’s family.

Miyoko died on May 5, 2019 in Kingwood, Texas. Her remains were returned to Kentucky and she was buried in the East End Cemetery with her husband.

Tombstone of Ethell and Miyoko Blackford
 

LINEAGE:  (Miyoko Sugano Blackford was the wife of Ethell Moore Blackford, Jr.  Ethell was the son of Ethell Moore, Sr., and Ella Mae Thomas Blackford, grandson of Richard Ellis and Nannie Hendricks Thomas and great-grandson of Carroll and Margaret Jane Reid Thomas.  Carroll was the second child of James, Jr., and Margaret Ethridge Thomas. James, Jr. was the son of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)