Wakaba Takata Hollingsworth, 92, passed September 29, 2021, with family at her side. She was married to Marvin Dale Hollingsworth for 61 years until he passed away in 2017. She was a proud military wife and beloved mother raising four children while her husband served 21 years active duty in the U.S. Army. She fondly called him Honeybee and she was his Chickadee.
Wakaba was born February 3, 1929, in Himeji, Japan, to Shigeno and Teiji Takata. She had two brothers and three sisters. Wakaba attended mission schools in Himeji then worked for the U. S. Army Administrative Headquarters in Kyoto and Sagamihara where she met and married Marvin in 1956 after his persistence to meet her. Over the years they were stationed in five states and Japan. She enjoyed being a medical technician at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for 21 years where she met many dear friends.
Her greatest joys were cooking for family gatherings, road trips with Marvin, traveling into her 90’s including Japan and Hawaii, girls softball, TV westerns, opera, piano, painting, growing vegetables, local events, laughing with friends, and spoiling her five grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Wakaba and Marvin moved to Colorado in 2012 to be near their daughter. She is survived by sons Kim of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Oliver (Marla) of Alexandria, Virginia, and Lee (Sara) of Laguna Beach, California; daughter Sandy Hollingsworth (Larry Koppelman) of Rollinsville, Colorado, and extended family in Japan.
Her ashes will be spread in Hawaii to reunite with Marvin at a private family gathering. The family expresses appreciation to Home Instead Senior Care, Lumicare Hospice, and the caregivers at Morningstar. Please donate in her honor to Mercy Project orphanages or United Services Organization (USO).
