Mitsuko (Mitsy) Nishitani

Mitsuko (Mitsy) Nishitani (nee Kaneshige) of Raritan Township, NJ, passed away on Thursday, May 4, 2023, in the Hunterdon Care Center, Raritan Township, NJ at the age of 97. She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, July 16, 1925, she had formerly resided in Bucks County, PA.

Mitsy graduated from Farrington High School in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1943. She served as a part-time missionary in the Central Pacific Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1944 to 1945. In the early 1950’s, she moved to Salt Lake City where she worked as a stenographer at a Veterans Administration hospital. In 1955, wanting to see more of the world, she became a civilian stenographer with the Department of the Army and travelled to Camp Zama in Japan. She met her future husband, Noboru, who was a medical intern at the nearby Army hospital where she worked. Noboru was awarded a Fulbright scholarship and began a residency in General Surgery in Trenton, so Mitsy moved to New Jersey with him, eventually finding a stenography position at Fort Dix.

While raising her son, Mitsy began taking Art and Art History classes at Mercer County Community College. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Rider University in 1980. For a number of years after graduation, she volunteered on numerous projects at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Morrisville, PA, including the church expansion project. In 1982, she began a 16-year career in the executive offices of the New Jersey Educational Association.

She enjoyed the arts, music, travelling, gardening, painting, and spoiling her numerous grand-cats and grand-dogs.

Mitsy was predeceased by her parents, Takuzo and Tomeyo (nee Harano) Kaneshige, and her dear brother Tokuo, and sisters-in-law Stella and Mildred. She is survived by her son, Brian and daughter-in-law, Marie; her siblings, Edward (Marci), Henry (Fumiko), Thomas, Grace Koizumi (Kotaro) and Morris; and many nieces and nephews.

If you choose to do so, make a donation in her memory to the charity(ies) of your choice.

Cremation services and arrangements are under the direction of the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822.

For further information or to send an online condolence, please visit her Tribute Wall at www.holcombefisher.com.