It is with sadness that we report the passing of Itoko Maeda yesterday morning, July 24, 2008.  Itoko was a former missionary in Okinawa, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil and also served as Director of Interpretation with the Division of Overseas Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Born in Tokyo, Japan, she graduated from the Joshi Sei Gakuin Christian High School for Girls, the Aoyama Gakuin University and Japanese Women's Theological Seminary, all in Tokyo.  Itoko came to the United States in 1953, having received a scholarship for study.  She received the B.R.E. degree at Eastern Mennonite College in Harrisonburg, VA and the M.R.E. at Lexington Theological Seminary.  She was a faculty member at Missionary Orientation Center in Stony Point, NY for a short time, and was ordained at Downey Avenue Christian Church in Indianapolis on October 7, 1956. She has been a member at Downey Avenue since 1954.

Itoko was the first Japanese national sent as a missionary by the United Christian Missionary Society in 1956.  While in Okinawa, she started a training school for Christian leaders, the Okinawa Christian Institute Junior College.  In Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil, she not only worked with Japanese citizens who had moved to the area, but she also worked with problems pertaining to the role of women.  She led Bible study groups and filled the pulpit on many occasions in Sao Paulo, and in Bolivia, she directed the Methodist School and ministered to the Metodista LaGloria Church.

Itoko most recently resided at Robin Run Village in Indianapolis.  A memorial service will be planned, and details will follow.