Shizuko "Shy" Mochizuki Bailey

Shizuko (she-zoo-ko) “Shy” Mochizuki (mochi-zoo-ki) Bailey, 91, of Miami, passed away on Wednesday, June 5, 2024 in Canadian.

Graveside services will be at 10:00 AM on Saturday, June 8, 2024 at Miami Cemetery with Pastor Josh Reeves, officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors and Crematory.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM on Friday, June 7, 2024 at the funeral home.

Shy was born on February 17, 1933 in Yokohama, Japan to Zenseku Mochizuki, a merchant marine, and Hatsu Mochizuki, a nurse and licensed midwife. She was the second oldest of four daughters. Her family moved to Shizuoka (she-zoe-ka) City, Japan after the family lost their home due to a bombing during World War II. While her parents were away, Shy and her two of her sisters stayed with their grandmother and went to school. Shy told stories of having to know where the bomb shelters were and having to go to one while walking home from school during an air raid. After the war, Shy’s family moved to a mountain home, where her parents and sister remained until their passing. 

Shy attended business school and later moved back to Shizuoka City, where she worked in the hotel business. Many of the American soldiers would come to the city and this is where Shy met Harvey Lee Bailey, who had joined the military and was stationed in Japan. On March 23, 1954, they were married at the Tokyo Embassy because Harvey was still in the military. He preceded her in death on December 29, 1998.

Shy boarded a plane to Honolulu, Hawaii and then transported by boat to San Francisco where Harvey met her on August 28, 1954, and moved her to Miami. Shy knew very little English when she came to Texas and her friends would remark how funny it was to hear a Japanese woman speaking Japanese with a Texan accent. On July 14, 1959, Shy became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Harvey and Shy lived in a small house on Main Street until after the birth of their daughter, Emmy. In 1958, they purchased a home on Harvey Street, where she remained until December 30, 2020 when she moved to Mesa View Senior Living.

Shy’s hobbies included sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, and crafting. Until Harvey’s illness, they enjoyed square dancing and meeting with friends to dance. She enjoyed the company of her friends and would talk on the phone with them often. Shy also enjoyed playing card games, especially poker and bridge. She also liked playing bingo.

Shy was preceded in death by her husband, Harvey Lee Bailey; her parents, Zenseku and Hatsu Mochizuki; and two sisters.

She is survived by her daughter, Emmy Bean and husband David of Miami; her younger sister, Mariko Tanabe and her husband of Shizuoka City, Japan; two granddaughters, Ember Bean Griswold and husband Darrell from New Brockton, Alabama and Allison Bean from Santa Rosa Beach, Florida; two brothers-in-law, Royce Bailey and wife Shirley and Wiley Bailey and wife Barbara; and numerous nieces and nephews in American and Japan.

Memorial may be sent to the Miami Food Bank, PO Box 248, Miami, Texas, 79059.