Sunday, January 4, 2015
MASAJI ISHIDA (石田雅路) SHAPARD died quietly at home in Herndon, Virginia, in the early morning of Friday, December 19, 2014. Her passing was peaceful, and she was surrounded by family and friends, care and love. She is now free from the pain and suffering of her long hard journey with ovarian cancer.
Masaji was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1964, where she lived until she moved to El Cerrito, California in 1992, and then to Herndon, Virginia in 1994. She was a citizen of Japan.
Masaji had a degree in design, worked in shops and offices in Tokyo, travelled the world as an international tour conductor, co-founded one of the first Internet service companies in Japan, and worked in Virginia and Maryland as an airline ticketing agent, a teacher assistant, a legal researcher, and a school accountant. She was just looking forward to a new stage in her professional life in 2012 when she learned she had stage 4 ovarian cancer.
Masaji was proud to be Japanese and was deeply engaged in many volunteer activities in Japanese education, language, and culture. She raised her daughter to be bilingual, and had a long association with the Washington Japanese Language School as a volunteer in various capacities, including board member, and as an employee.
Masaji was especially interested in food and friends. Her passion for food, especially Japanese food, was renown among her many friends. And she had friends from every stage of her life that she cherished all her life, and who cherished her.
Masaji is survived by her husband Jeffrey Shapard and their daughter Kai Ann Shapard in Herndon, Virginia, and by her beloved older brother Motoyoshi Ishida in Tokyo, Japan.
Masaji was cremated on December 23, 2014, after a private witness ceremony at Adams Green Funeral Home in Herndon, Virginia.
The family will host a memorial service for Masaji at 6pm, Saturday, January 24 at Ekoji Buddhist Temple, 6500 Lakehaven Lane, Fairfax Station, Virginia 22039.
Masaji has requested that the mood at her memorial be celebratory rather than solemn and that the theme be matsuri festival with bright colors and Japanese clothes such as kimono, yukata, or happi coats.
