Mitsu Barnett

Mitsu (Nakamura) Barnett, age 83, passed away at the home of her daughter in Elizabeth, Colorado, who lovingly cared for her the last 2 months of her life, on Monday, May 7, 2018. Her other daughter lovingly cared for her for the previous 5 months. Both daughters felt very privileged to have their mother live with them during her last year of life. Mitsu was born in Sendai City, Kagoshima Ken, Kyushu, Japan on March 21, 1935 to Seichiro and Yuki Nakamura. She was the middle child of 5 children, and is survived by one brother, Tsugio Nakamura, still in Japan. She met Ray Barnett, a non-commissioned officer with the Air Force in Tokyo, Japan and later married him on July 10, 1959. She moved to the United States and later became a U.S. citizen. She was a woman with many talents: sewing, crocheting, knitting, macramé, embroidery, and ceramics. She also was an avid bowler often scoring in the 200’s as she played on several bowling leagues. She was a sweet grandmother who was willing to play lots of card and board games with her 8 grandchildren. She lived in many places as she moved almost every 2 years while her husband was in the Air Force - Oregon, Washington, California, Maryland, Arkansas, Mississippi, Utah, and Germany. She spent the majority of her later years in Las Vegas, Nevada where she worked as a waitress, a guide for Japanese tourists, and a caregiver for several grandchildren, and she was a certified Poker dealer. She will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by her two children: Brenda (Kevin) Swanson, Shirley (Rusty) James; eight grandchildren: Daniel Swanson, Emily Swanson, Rebekah Swanson, Bethany Swanson, Abigail Swanson, Tymetra (Jones) Bard, Timothy Jones, and Trevor James; one great-grandchild: Tyler Choisser.  A graveside service was held at 12:00 pm at the Elizabeth Cemetery in Elizabeth, CO on Friday, May 11, 2018.

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