Kimi High

Kimi was born during the Great Depression on September 24, 1928, in Chiba City, Japan, just outside of Tokyo. Surrounded by her children and grandchildren, she peacefully went to be with the Lord on March 23, 2026.

Kimi lived an incredible life spanning nine decades marked by courage, perseverance, faith, thankfulness and a quiet strength and leaves a lasting legacy that will persist through her extended family for generations to come.

Growing up in the outskirts of Tokyo, Kimi was a good student in school and lead a quiet life until the loss of her father at age 7. Her mother ran a store in the community and their family did well until Japan’s conflict with China. As the country began to enter the war, school students were pulled to help support the military in factories and hospitals. After highschool she worked in the offices of the Japanese Army to help her family. She and her family ultimately survived World War II though their family home burned to the ground during the nightly B52 Bomber air raids often running to underground shelters for safety.

After leaving a very short arranged marriage, she returned to Chiba to live with her mother and began a job in Yokohama at the US Clark Army base working in the PX stocking shelves. She spent time at the base club and remembered that being her first exposure to hamburgers, coca-cola and she thought the tall soldiers in their khaki uniforms were pretty cute. ;)

She then met and soon married Ray High, a U.S. Army Sergeant First Class. Their first son, Joe was born in Japan and within that year, they left to began a new life in the United States. They settled in the rural area of Gainesville, Missouri near his family and later lived in the greater Kansas City northland area as their family continued to grow.

In 1974 at the young age of 44, Ray passed away leaving Kimi alone with six children ranging in age from 5 to 19 years old. Later Kimi would say this was a fearful time – but “God helped her”. In this next chapter of her life the new challenges brought growth, independence and a faith in Jesus Christ. She learned to drive, started a career in foodservice and supported her children as everyone worked to find a new path forward.

Over the next 40 years, she was able to have many new adventures, returning to her beloved homeland several times with her children so they could experience her culture and to see her younger sister Teruko, as well as traveling to California, Arkansas and New York to visit newborn grandchildren, great grandchildren and be a part of their lives. Her perspective during this time became one of gratitude, “I’m so fortunate, all these wonderful children” knowing that her life was indeed full surrounded by the love of her family.

She was a devoted mother to her six children—Joe, Eddie, Linda (Chuck), Gerald (Karen), William (Brooke), and Wanda—and a loving grandmother to 19 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. 

Her family was her greatest blessing, and she expressed her love through gifts of crocheted baby blankets, winter scarves, home baked cookies, cakes and breads and her famous fried chicken and fried rice.

Kimi’s life was a testament to God’s faithfulness. Through every season, she walked with quiet courage and grace. She leaves behind a legacy of deep faith, enduring love, and a family grounded in the values she lived each day. Her family has comfort in knowing this is not the end, they feel her presence with them always and know that she is at peace in the presence of the Lord.