Ritsuko Tavares

Ritsuko (Oshima) Tavares, 89, formerly of Chicopee passed away peacefully on Saturday December 9, 2023 at Regal Care Nursing in Greenfield. Ritsuko was born in Japan to Bunichi and Shigeno Oshima. She grew up in Japan in the Saga Province of Kyushu. Ritsuko met her future husband, Frank Tavares while he was stationed in Japan with the USAF. They were married on March 27, 1957 in Tokyo, Japan and eventually settled in Chicopee. She worked for a number of years at the Base Exchange at Westover AFB in Chicopee before retiring in 1996.Ritsuko was a member of the Japanese Wives Club, Moose Family Lodge in Chicopee, and the Chicopee Senior Center. She loved opening her home to family and friends and was a gracious entertainer and wonderful cook. Ritsuko and Frank enjoyed 51 years of marriage, memories, and family together until his passing in 2008. She was predeceased by her parents; Bunichi and Shigeno and siblings; Takato Oshima, Hiroto Oshima, Tomiko Miyazaki and Yasuko Kawajiri. She leaves her children, Nicholas Tavares and his wife Cathy of Southampton, MA., and Frances Tavares Koper and her husband John of Scituate, MA., two cherished grandchildren, Melissa Tavares McDonald and her husband Kevin of West Springfield and Ben Koper of Scituate, and one cherished great grandson Wesley McDonald. Her siblings; Mitsonobo Oshima, Tomoko Matsuo, Sumiko Higuchi, and many nieces and nephews. FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE INVITED TO MEET DIRECTLY AT THE MASSACHUSETTS VETERANS MEMORIAL CEMETERY, 1390 MAIN ST., AGAWAM ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2023 AT 1:00 P.M. FOR THE RITES OF INTERMENT.