Memphis, TN - Virginia Pang Oyafuso, a longtime Detroit area resident and retired medical lab technician, died from natural causes on October 24, 2020. She was 90 years old. Born July 1, on the island of Oahu, Virginia was the eldest of seven children. Her siblings include the late Mayne (Paul) In, Stephanie Pang Viner, Janet Pang Miyashiro, Elfreida (Kenneth) Mills, Victor (Edna) Pang, and Lorrin (Julie) Pang.
After graduating from Honolulu's W.R. Farrington High School in 1949, Virginia headed to the U.S. mainland to pursue a career in healthcare at St. Francis Hospital in Minnesota. She worked briefly in Washington DC, and later moved to Detroit, where she met, fell in love with, and married Harry H. Oyafuso of Makawao. Harry passed away in August, just two weeks shy of the couple's 63rd wedding anniversary.
Virginia loved cooking for her family and friends and enjoyed musical theater and world travel. Her warm smile and petite stature gave little indication of her quiet strength and resilience. She was a breast cancer survivor, and she met other health challenges with the same grace and dignity that she exhibited throughout her life.
She is survived by daughters Sharon (Art) DeLaurier and Carol (Gösta) Pettersson; son Kevin (Linda) Oyafuso; grandchildren: Gregory Oyafuso, Olivia Loria, and Henry and Tyler DeLaurier and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her beloved granddaughters Emily Loria and Kathlyn Oyafuso.
A Celebration of Virginia's Life will be held in Hawaii,
which she always lovingly referred to as "home."
