Helen Shiratori Shiozawa

Helen Shiozawa
June 20, 1920 – January 26, 2020

Helen Teruko Shiratori Shiozawa passed away peacefully at age 99 in Glendale, CA on January 26, 2020. She was born in Rexburg, ID to Tsunesaku and Tomi Shiratori and was the second of 12 children. She attended Madison High School, graduating as one of its valedictorians. She later moved to Provo, UT to attend BYU where she met Kenji Shiozawa. They married on June 26, 1944, in the Salt Lake LDS temple. Following marriage, she received a Bachelor of Science at BYU in 1945, and in 1972, her Masters of Education from USU.

She and Kenji lived in Logan, UT where their two children, Gail and Dennis, were born. Kenji was teaching at USU, and Helen began working on certification in primary education. Kenji took a sabbatical at UC-Berkeley in 1955. It was here that Helen began her teaching career. After a year, they returned to UT, where her most significant years as a school teacher took root. Helen was meant to be a teacher and loved her profession and her students. She taught for 29 years, first at Riverdale Elementary, then at A. Parley Bates Elementary, and finally Valley Elementary in Huntsville, where she stayed until retirement in 1987. While she was teaching at Valley Elementary, she ran a ceramics program for students. She continued the ceramics program into retirement as a volunteer.

She was chosen Weber School District Teacher of the Year in 1973. In 1993, she was one of the first recipients of the Huntsman Awards for Excellence in Education, selected for her work as a volunteer. There were other accolades as well but always, working with her students was her greatest joy.

Helen's husband, Kenji, passed away in 1999. She continued to live in their longtime Ogden home until 2016, when she moved to CA to be near her daughter. She is survived by daughter, Gail (Gary) Mitsui, of Glendale, CA and son, Dennis (Janet) Shiozawa, of Palmyra, UT; two granddaughters, Natalie Shiozawa of Salt Lake City and Becky (Kevin) Miller of Germantown, MD; and four great-grandchildren, Kaida Jo Dannhauer and Kyra, Kaitlin, and Ethan Miller. She enjoyed visits from friends, family, and all of her great-grandchildren while living in CA.

She is survived by brother, Seiji Shiratori and three sisters, Aiko Shikashio, Mimi Cox and Chi Chun.
Helen will be interred in Ogden, next to her husband, at a later date. Should friends desire, a donation in Helen Shiozawa's memory can be made to Valley Elementary School, 5821 E. 1900 N., Eden, UT 84310 or to the Kenji Shiozawa scholarship at Utah State University, 1590 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322.