Chieko Henry

Chieko Uehara Henry was born on January 16, 1939 in Naha, Okinawa to Bunkichi and Kame Uehara. She passed away in her home on October 31, 2025.

Chieko relocated with her family to Saipan when she was just two years old due to the ongoing war in Japan. It was in Saipan where the war took the lives of both her father and an unnamed baby brother. Her family returned to Okinawa after the end of the second World War in October of 1945, where she lived and worked until meeting and later marrying “Zack” at Naha Air Base in 1962. She was the consummate wife and mother raising three children as the Air Force moved the family from Okinawa to California, Tokyo, Kansas, Okinawa, and Michigan before returning to California. Not one to sit still, she embraced the opportunity to move several more times from Sacramento to Reno then Spokane after Zack began his second career working for the US Postal Service. She and Zack were in the process of settling down for retirement in Sparks, Nevada at the time of his passing in 1997.

Chieko relocated in 2000 to Lincoln to be closer to her daughter, Carla, and son, Cal, and her many close friends in the Sacramento area. It is here that she has thrived for the last 25 years. Chieko was always active socially. She cherished her Sun City neighbors, who provided her a critical support and social network. She joined the neighborhood Bunco group and spoke fondly about their games and get togethers. Her love of games extended to a card game called Five Crowns that Diane introduced to her and would want to play every time they were together. She also joined the Sacramento Okinawa Kenjinkai group and attended their activities for many years. She went to Okinawa with the Kenjinkai group several times and always enjoyed her time there. The Kenjinkai group may even have been responsible for reigniting her singing career in karaoke. Bowling was one of her long-time passions and important social event for over 40 years. She switched from bowling with her left hand to using her right hand to extend her career but ultimately the physical toll was too much. However, she did not let this deter her from continuing to attend regular lunch dates with her bowling group. She also loved watching live sports from Japan. Her two favorite sports were sumo wrestling and baseball. She rarely missed a baseball game that the Yomiuri Giants, formerly known as the Tokyo Giants, played. It was not unusual for her to stay up very late at night to watch live games the Giants were playing.

Chieko has always been a creative crafter. She constructed many Japanese dolls she had on display throughout her home. She was also very skilled at making intricate things out of origami. Her talent also manifested itself in the creation of many beautiful and complex floral displays she crafted with artificial flowers. Crocheting also held a special place in her lifelong passions and skills. There is hardly a place in her home that you would not be within sight of something creative she had concocted from yarn. The list of things she made is exhaustive. Many of these craft skills were self-taught. She was quick to pick up new skills and creatively used her talent and ingenuity to make things for displaying or practical things she could use around the house.

Chieko is survived by her older sister Toyoko, son Curt (wife Diane), daughter Carla (husband A.J.), and son Cal (wife Tessa), 7 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband Charles “Zack” Henry, her sister, Yoshiko, and brother, Toshio and a great-grandchild, “Lil Jeff” Johnston.