Akiko Myung Ja Tanaka, 81, of San Jose, passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 15, 2024, surrounded by family.

The youngest of 6 kids, Akiko was born on August 28, 1943, in Incheon, South Korea to Soo Bong An and Sang Ye Kim.

Akiko immigrated to the United States in 1967, met Leonard, and was married (in 1969) for 52 years, until his death in 2021. She was a stay-at-home mom until 1978 when she decided to go back to work as one of the original sales associates at Macy*s Oakridge. She worked part-time until both her kids completed elementary school, then went to work full-time. She worked in the Housewares Department for 43 years. During those years she met a lot of people and made some very good friends. Those closest to her recall her as kind, compassionate and always willing to help however she could. She retired from Macys in 2021.

Akiko was very talented and accomplished in many things. Among those things she enjoyed sewing, needlepoint, knitting, crocheting, kumihimo, gardening and cooking, to name a few. She did all this and still managed to raise two kids and be the iconic housewife. You never would have caught her out in public without her hair & makeup done, clothes pressed, and never in jeans as she didn't even own a pair. As she got older, she never stopped gardening & cooking but picked up a new hobby of making Japanese dolls.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by 3 sisters and 1 brother.

Akiko leaves behind her children, Evelyn Simpson and Brian Tanaka, and granddaughter, Alera Simpson. She is also survived by her only remaining sibling, Ann Tanaka, and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.

The burial will be held privately with family at Gavilan Hills Memorial Park in Gilroy.