January 03, 2015
JOY YOSHIDA
SOKIKWE
MAYETTA – Joy Yoshida, Sokikwe, 80, of rural Mayetta, died Friday, December 26, 2014 at St. Francis Hospital in Topeka.
She was born June 14, 1934 at Mayetta, the daughter of Ernest and Angeline Whitefish Seymour. She graduated from Washburn University with an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice.
Joy was a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and the Drum Religion.
She had worked at the American Indian Center in Chicago and later at the Prairie Band Gift Shop and the Prairie Band Elder Center.
She married Giichi Yoshida on November 23, 1959 in Chicago. He died in September 30, 1993.
Joy was preceded in death by four brothers, John Seymour, Peter Seymour, Ernest Seymour and Robert Clements, and a sister, Elmira McClure.
Survivors include two sons, Mark Yoshida, Chicago, IL, and Kenneth Yoshida, Erie, Pennsylvania; one daughter, Michelle Yoshida, Topeka; a brother, Charles Seymour, Mayetta; and two grandchildren, Malakai Rice and Sabriel Thomas.
Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 31st at the Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Hoyt. Burial will follow in The Potts Cemetery on the Potawatomi Common Land. Joy will lie in state until service time at the funeral home, where family and friends will meet from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. On-line condolences may be made at chapeloaksfuneralhome.com