Chieko Niiyama Finn, a long-time Medford resident, died Tuesday at Beth Israel - Deaconess Medical Center. She was 78.
Mrs. Finn was born and raised in Karufuto, Japan, the daughter of the late Santaro and Mine (Kawasaki) Niiyama. She came to the United States as a young woman and settled with her family in Medford. She owned and operated a Japanese restaurant in Somerville for many years. She retired from Chieko Japanese Cuisine in 1992. She was devoted to her family and especially enjoyed the company of her grandchildren. Chieko was active in the local community and especially active in the Japanese-American community. She also loved to travel.
She was the devoted mother of Edward Finn and his wife Sandra of Medford, Loretta “Lu” Porreca and her husband Ron of Melrose, Sumie Sato and her husband Hiro Kurita of Somerville. She was a loving OBABA to Ian, Alec, Cameron, Loren, Amal and Kenske.
Her funeral service will be conducted in the Dello Russo Funeral Home, 306 Main St., Medford, Sunday, June 1st, at 3 pm. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend and may visit with the family prior to the service from 12 to 3 PM. Interment services will be private.
It has been requested that in lieu of flowers memorial contributions be made in Chieko’s memory to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Development Fund, c/o Office of Development, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215.