YURIKO KOIKE BREY

Yuriko (“Lily”) nee Koike Brey, of Foley, AL, was born November 5, 1928 (recorded Dec 6) in Java, Indonesia. She was the daughter of Misako Ohtani, who worked for a Methodist missionary and Tatsuji Koike, who built a motorcycle tire company in Java.

She is survived by four children: Sylvia (Ron) Miller, Washington; Patty Brey, Alabama; Michael Brey, Wisconsin; and Ann (Ian) Wilson, Colorado; two brothers, Mikio and George Koike, both of Japan; and 4 grandchildren. She was predeceased by her parents, husband Kermit, and a sister, Mariko Koike.

She met MSGT Kermit Brey while working for the US Army as a civilian secretary/ translator and they married a year later in November 1952.

Following Kermit’s retirement from the Army, they settled on a farm outside of Poy Sippi. She was an accomplished seamstress and remade her husband’s uniforms into work clothes for the children (green pants all around!). She also worked in the office of the Berlin Slipper Factory and opened a fabric shop in Poy Sippi.

After Kermit’s retirement they sold the farm to their son and moved to Foley, Alabama in 1994. They became snowbirds and moved to Wautoma for the summers and back to Foley for the rest of the year, until Kermit died in March 2013.

During her lifetime, Yuriko thrived on opera and classical music, sewing crafts and garments, and watercolor painting-- she was locally recognized as a painter with a Monet-like quality to her watercolors. She always contributed time and resources to those less fortunate through The Box Project, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and several other charities.

She will be interred in Central Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in King, WI next to Kermit Brey. In the interest of COVID-19 and in accordance with her wishes, there will be no memorial service. A private lantern ceremony will be held in memoriam.