Sumiko Ishii Banta

BANTA, DR. SUMIKO ISHII Dr. Sumiko Ishii Banta was born March 29, 1927, in Tokyo, Japan to Jyutaro and Mitsu Fukushima and died April 29, 2013, in El Paso, Texas. As a small child, she was adopted and brought up by Dr. Shigeyuki and Hide (Mizuno) Ishii. During World War II, the family moved to the country where her father practiced dentistry in exchange for bartered necessities. Because she had such good penmanship, a teen-age Sumiko was selected to write and post the names of the local war dead at the post office. In later years, she recalled that one of the names had been her childhood sweetheart who had become a pilot. After the war, the family returned to Tokyo and Sumiko went on to graduate from dental college. She worked as a dentist in private practice with her father in Tokyo and at the dental clinic at the US Army Base at Camp Zama, Japan. It was at Camp Zama that she met her future husband, Carrol Louis Banta, who was serving in the US Army. They were married in Rockville, Maryland in February 1966 during a brief stint stateside. They returned to Japan where their two daughters were born, adding to Carrol’s daughter and son. Upon their return to the United States in 1969, the family settled in El Paso, Texas where Carrol worked at William Beaumont Army Medical Hospital, Fort Bliss and Sumiko became a full-time homemaker. Of his beloved wife of 47 years, Carrol Banta had this to say: “Meeting Sumiko was the best thing that ever happened to me. She filled a void in my life with love, compassion and trust. Each morning, I was greeted with a smile throughout our life together up to the very end and love shined in her pretty eyes. She loved life and was quick to go and explore life around us. She was my love, confidant and light who brought me true happiness.” Her two daughters have many fond memories as well. Sumiko was incredibly creative and talented. Many kids brought paper bag lunches to school but ours were often decorated. As our mom was an accomplished seamstress who even made her own patterns, we had handmade book bags before backpacks became the norm, custom clothing and homemade Halloween costumes. She loved crafts and was always working on something to decorate the house. Sumiko played the koto (Japanese stringed musical instrument), had exquisite Japanese penmanship and was skilled at sumi-e, Japanese ink brush painting. In addition, she was an outstanding cook who was able to prepare dishes from a wide variety of international cuisines. We ate everything from chicken cordon bleu to roast beef to chicken teriyaki. As children, when kids would come to our house, they would find cookies and Kool-Aid but also edamame, osembe (rice crackers) and tiny sandwiches with the edges cut off. They also had to take their shoes off at the front door! While we were in elementary school, she brought a large collection of Japanese cultural items to school as a kind of “show and tell” and many years later, former classmates would remark that they would never forget learning about Japan and seeing these neat objects from far away. As we grew older, she would play ping pong with us, lulling us with her easygoing style of play before putting us away with her dreaded smash shot. We have many fun memories of playing Yahtzee, Uno, dominoes and cards together. She taught us how to cook and keep house as well as a variety of crafts. When her daughters left for college, Sumiko was able to dedicate her time to her own pursuits. She volunteered at the dental clinic at William Beaumont Army Medical Center and spent time with her circle of Japanese friends. One of her great loves was reading and she had a great collection of books. History, true crime, mystery/thrillers, autobiographies and novels by writers such as Dostoyevsky were among the topics that interested her. Upon her husband’s retirement, she greatly enjoyed traveling in the United States and in Japan with him and on occasion with their friends and family members. She also spent a great deal of time at the Wellington Chew Senior Center with her friends, participating in country western line dancing, aerobics and many other activities. For a while, Sumiko belonged to a traditional Japanese dance group and a country western line dancing group, both of which performed at public events and at nursing homes. In 2004, Sumiko suffered a massive stroke, which left her partially paralyzed for the rest of her life. Although she was no longer able to enjoy many of the things she used to, she remained good-natured, humorous and interested in current events. She passed away on April 29, 2013 at Sierra Providence East Medical Center as a result of a sudden and severe illness. Dr. Sumiko Ishii Banta is survived by her husband, Carrol Louis Banta, her two daughters, Vivian Banta (El Paso, TX) and Evelyn (David) Rismann (West Hills, CA), step-son Robert Carrol Banta (El Paso, TX), step-daughter Rita (Carl) Henderson (Colorado Springs, CO), and her older sister, Yoshiko (Fukushima) Kajiwara (Kobe, Japan). She was preceded in death by her parents, one sister, Miyoko (Fukushima) Kitani and three brothers, Sentaro Fukushima, Jiro Fukushima and Shinzaburo Fukushima. Special thanks go to Dr. Aime Serna and her staff Myriam Kaplan and Gloria Valdes who cared for her in the years following her stroke. Dr. Serna always treated her with great respect and dignity and often went above and beyond in her care of her. A warm thank you goes to Mr. Kelvin Green, Sumiko's physical therapist, who worked with her for over eight years. We are forever grateful for your dedication, kindness and friendship. You are always there when we needed you - thank you. Final arrangements were handled in expert fashion by John Paniagua at Sunset Funeral Home, Northeast, El Paso, TX. A private ceremony was held on May 8, 2013 at Fort Bliss National Cemetery where her remains have been interred in Columbarium A, Space 98. If you weren’t fortunate enough to know her, you missed out on a witty and wonderful person who truly enjoyed life and cared greatly for her loved ones. We will miss her very much.