Setsuko Yayoshi Rowlands

Setsuko Yayoshi Rowlands, age 92, passed away peacefully on November 23, 2020. She was a Little Rock resident for 10 years and previously lived in Shiremanstown, Pennsylvania and Tokyo, Japan. She was preceded in death by her husband, David. She leaves behind her children David (Anne) and Martha (Cynthia). She also has four grandchildren: Josh, Justin (Hannah), Rachel, Emily, and Andrew "AJ" (Sarah). Her one great grandchild was born in May 2020, Leo Eshleman. In Pennsylvania, she spent most of her life as a busy housewife and mother. She took up piano lessons at the age of 43, mostly to prove to her whining children that it was possible to learn to play the piano with a little effort and a lot of practice. At about the same time, she learned to drive. This enabled her to have a part-time job as a much loved "cafeteria lady" at Mechanicsburg Junior High School. Her newly found driving skills also meant she spent a good deal of time tooling around in her VW Rabbit, ferrying her two children to choir and band practice, church activities and the mall. If she was not tending to the family, she could be found investigating new food items at the grocery store or shopping at The Far East Grocery, her beloved neighborhood Japanese grocery store. During the biggest holiday in Japanese culture (New Year's Day), she would wake early to cook all of the specialty foods for the day, particularly her Ozoni soup. "Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!" she would say as her children entered the kitchen. Her children and grandchildren learned these cooking secrets from her and to this day, they continue her tradition of Ozoni soup on New Year's Day. She also taught her grandchildren to make sushi and they loved it. In her 70's, she lived at Bethany Village where she volunteered at the snack shop. There at Bethany Village, Setsuko could frequently be seen dragging a 20-pound bag of Kokuho rice to her apartment much to the confusion of her fellow residents. She once said that she felt nervous anytime she did not have Japanese rice in the house. In her 80's, she moved to Little Rock to live with her daughter Martha. There she was known as an ardent watcher of CNN, a brutal dominoes player and a consumer of every interesting food item she could get her hands on. Her dominance on the dominoes table was so complete that her young friends would sometimes revert to cheating so that she did not win every game. Setsuko was also known as a patient, loving and accepting friend to all of her newly found "youngster" friends who frequented her house. She loved them completely and accepted them as they were, warts and all. Setsuko continued her faith walk at St. Michael's Episcopal Church where she would occasionally confound those seated near her with her Bible, printed in Japanese. While she was still healthy, she was an active member of the St. Michael's "Our House" Team. She loved helping cook and serve the monthly meal with her team. Setsuko was a remarkable woman--outwardly diminutive, but inwardly powerfully propelled by love and openness to the next new thing around the corner. Throughout her life, she became an expert at reinventing herself in every new situation. She was much loved and will be dearly missed. Funeral arrangements are with Smith Funeral Home in North Little Rock, Arkansas. There are no services planned at this time but a memorial service is planned for the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to "Our House" (Little Rock, Arkansas). To our out of state friends, "Our House" is an organization that provides support to homeless and near homeless families and individuals. Online guestbook at www.SmithFamilyCares.com.