Ina Lee Obituary

INA MIEKO LEE Ina Mieko Lee, born October 27, 1946, passed away peacefully at home in Kahala on June 24, 2025. Ina was a beloved wife, mother, and friend to many. She is survived by her husband, Jeffrey; son, Joshua; and siblings, Kathryn Bursick, Marian Oshiro, and John Oshiro. A lifetime educator who specialized in elementary school literacy, she would be correcting the grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation in this obituary if she was still with us. Like her mother Eva, she was an exceptional cook and a skilled seamstress. Josh was fortunate enough to learn both from her over the years; Jeffrey is learning to cook as you read this. Ina lived an unconventional but incredibly full life. Despite being the Hawaii state finalist in a Betty Crocker homemakers' competition, she fearlessly went off on her own and lived her early adult years exploring the Midwest. She attended college in Wisconsin, and spent the next decade teaching in Michigan. A young Okinawan woman from Hawaii was the most exotic thing to her students, and she regaled them with tales of the faraway land from which she came. In her thirties, she moved back to Hawaii to help care for her parents, and it was at that time that she met her lifelong tribe, the Zoo Crew. It was through them that she met the love of her life, Jeffrey, whom she married in January, 1990. Three years later, they adopted Joshua and Ina wasted no time instilling her values of self-sufficiency, obsessive-compulsive organization, and fierce independence?"values which have served him well. For all that Ina gave to us in this lifetime and all that she will give to God in the next, we are thankful and blessed. Ina's celebration of life will be held at Harris United Methodist on July 18 with visitation beginning at 10AM and service beginning at 11AM. She will then be laid to rest in the columbarium at Oahu Cemetery. Arrangements Provided By: Hosoi Garden Mortuary