Kiku (Miyagi) Smith

November 2, 1934 - July 6, 2011

EAST PROSPECT The world lost a unique and adventurous spirit, Kiku Smith, on Wednesday, July 6, 2011. She was a 76-year-old who threw the peace sign for photographs and believed in wearing mink coats, lipstick, and paint on her toes. She greeted visitors with, "You eat. I made fried rice," and always departed with "See you later alligator," while waiting for you to respond, "After while, crocodile." She acknowledged accomplishments by telling people they were "more better than a cat!" She loved to cook and garden. There was always hot food waiting and violets blooming in her home. A seamstress at Tighe Industries for 25 years, Kiku's new curtains often meant her three sons were wearing the old ones to school. She was a native of Japan who survived the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 by huddling in a cave with her family for weeks. She spent her last visit to Japan in 2005 sleeping on the floor beside her sister, the two holding hands as they slept. Kiku moved to the United States in 1964 and was married to Lester Gordon Smith for 40 years, until he died in 2002. She is survived by three sons, Jeffery R. Smith of York, Edward R. Smith of Lower Windsor Township, and Michael L. Smith of Windsor Township; two sisters, Fumico Matsumoto and Take Matsumoto, both of Okinowa, Japan; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Services will be held Monday, July 11, at Burg Funeral Home, 134 W. Broadway in Red Lion. A viewing will be held at 9 a.m., with a service at 10 a.m., followed by burial at Susquehanna Memorial Gardens. Memorial donations may be sent to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 140 Roosevelt Ave., York, PA 17401.