Ruriko Minagawa Faytus, age 96, passed away at her Richmond Township home of 54 years on Fri., Mar. 22, 2024. She was born on Sept. 18, 1927, in Nagahama, Shiga, Japan, the daughter of Takeo and Yoshiko (Kikuchi) Minagawa. Ruriko married Pete Faytus on Nov. 24, 1959, in Tokyo, Japan. She moved to St. Francis, Milwaukee, WI in 1960 and was naturalized in 1964. After a move to Oak Creek, she moved to Whitewater in Sept. 1966 and finally to Richmond Township in Jan. 1970. She was employed as a nurse and accountant in Japan. In the U.S., she operated a business making ponchos, cushions, and stuffed animals in the early 1970s. She served for many years in the Women’s Auxiliary of Carpenter’s Union Local 836 in Janesville. Ruriko was skilled in longbow archery, shamisen, and mathematics. She could trace her ancestry back to 346 B.C. and was a direct descendant of Nakatomi Fujiwara who overthrew Emperor Soga in 645. Her great-grandfathers were samurai of the Takada and Aizu clans that were killed fighting the Imperial troops of Emperor Meiji in 1868 during the Boshin Civil War.
She is survived by her husband, Pete; son, Len (Stacie) Faytus, all of Delavan; a daughter, Michiko Tsuruga, Japan. She is also survived by one grandson, Lewis Faytus; three granddaughters: Rie Ishikawa, Tomomi Tsuruga, and Christine Faytus; three great-grandaughters: Brynn, Kylie, and Amara; five great-grandsons: Bentley, Arthur, Shunta, Eisuka, and Akito. She is further survived by sister-in-law Roberta Mashlan, of Milwaukee; three brother-in-laws: Harold (Leslie) Blaize Jr., of Montana, Anthony (Frances) Blaize, and James Blaize, all of Oak Creek, and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her sister Reiko (Douglas) Anderson of Washington and three brothers: Katsuhiko (Sueko) Minagawa, Shizuo Minagawa, and Kuniaki Minagawa, all of Japan, and a grandson; John Faytus, of Whitewater.
Ruriko requested that no memorial or service be held as she did not like somber events. Inurnment will be at Milton Lawns Memorial Park, Janesville.
Nitardy Funeral Home, Whitewater is assisting the family.
