Anna Nabarrete Ebat Oshiro

Early in the morning of March 24, 2022 - before sunrise and before the birds started chirping, Anna Oshiro passed away at home in Port Orchard, WA. She was with family and was lovingly dressed by her granddaughters before she left home for the final time. When asked years ago how she would like to be remembered she said, “As a nice and helpful person”. She was - and brave and courageous, but to that, she would say, “What evah . . . “

Anna was born on September 1, 1925, in Ewa Hawaii. She was the oldest of eight children born to Cirilo and Maria Nabarrete. Being the first born of the second generation from the Philippines she was the liaison for her parents and grandparents to assimilate in their new country. Her parents also relied on her to look after her siblings. At an early age she watched and cared for them with a focus on their education. Later, older and no longer in school she came home after work and set up a blackboard and home-schooled a brother - after school - because he was failing. Cirilo, Jr caught up and later became valedictorian of his eighth-grade class. Her intervention put him on track, and he continued to excel through high school and beyond. She convinced her parents to send her brothers to private school and helped pay for their tuition. She also helped send her youngest sister through nursing school.

She was 17 years old when she witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor from her house in Waipahu. She left high school during WWII to help support the family. After two years working as a secretary at Barbers Point Naval Air Station, she bravely returned to Waipahu High School to earn her diploma. Her friends and classmates had already graduated so she graduated with the class of ‘46’. This turned out to be a fateful event for her over fifty years later. She continued her education attending the University of Hawaii, but her college days ended before she could earn her degree when her parents made the decision that wasn’t what she should be doing. This was a very big disappointment for her.

In her early twenties she left the family and Hawaii to start an independent life on the mainland. She went to school in Southern CA and was reacquainted with Gregorio (Greg) Ebat whom she had met in Hawaii when he was in the Navy. They became engaged and moved to Seattle, WA where they were married and raised their family. She remained there for the next 50 years. After Greg’s death in 1983 and a widow at the age of 58 - she was determined to be independent and not rely on her children. She enrolled in home repair and automotive maintenance classes. Her first big project was removing and installing a new bathroom fan. She would proudly tell you to “Turn on the fan!” when she saw you heading toward the bathroom.

She loved to garden, and her yard was a display of color in all seasons. She designed her yard so there was color - even in the winter - from the bark of various shrubs and trees and landscaping elements like the pond and the moon-gate that Greg had built for her.

While living on the mainland, she returned to Hawaii often to visit family and friends. She was attending a Waipahu High School reunion when she connected with fellow ‘46’ classmate Yoshinobu Oshiro. They married in 2000 and after moving to the mainland in her twenties to start a new life - she returned to Hawaii in her seventies to live in Pearl City with Yoshinobu – to start a new life. She would often comment that she felt very lucky to be loved by two very kind and gentle men in her lifetime.

She loved to travel and took many road-trips with Greg and close friends around the Pacific Northwest and Canada. There were cruises to Alaska and more adventures exploring the USA from coast to coast. She also traveled to the Philippines with her sister. Later with Yoshinobu they would continue traveling around the country and traveled to Europe and made several trips to Japan.

Anna was proud of her Filipino heritage and always interested in her culture and history. She wanted her American children to know their heritage and culture and to appreciate the struggles and difficulties encountered by those that left the Philippines for better opportunities -for them in the USA. In the late 1950’s and early 60s, a group of young Filipino parents with the same desire to nurture a Filipino community started the Filipino Youth Activities of Seattle (FYA). Greg and Anna were part of this very special group of pioneers.

Taking care of her brothers and sisters from an early age made it easy for Anna to take on leadership roles. She was a well-liked and respected supervisor at Boeing and later while working for the State of Washington, Dept of Corrections. She managed her employees like she took care of her siblings. She encouraged personal growth while showing them how to excel in their current position and supported them in their efforts to advance their careers. She proudly transferred them to their new roles as they were promoted. She served as president of the Women’s Auxiliary of The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW Post 6599) in Seattle in the 1970s. When she moved back to Hawaii in 2000, she joined the Waiau Senior Citizens Club in Pearl City which led to her serving as president. She was nominated for and attended the Mayor’s Senior Recognition event in 2006.

Anna enjoyed meeting people and making friends wherever she was. Two weeks before she died, she was looking out the window and asked: “Who lives in that brown house across the street?” By this time, she couldn’t leave her bed, but she said, “When the weather is warmer, I’m going to go over there and introduce myself and get to know them!”

She bravely fought two kinds of cancer and survived two re-occurances. Her most courageous battle, however, was with Alzheimer’s disease. She woke up each day and battled dementia with grace and never gave up. Her most frustrating loss was the ability to read a book from beginning to end, but she never stopped trying. She still had many books in her room - with multiple bookmarks. She always had something to read with her.

Anna’s legacy is within the people that she helped or just spent a moment in time with. You see her influence in her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It is in their academic achievements and curiosity to learn new things. It’s their interest in traveling and seeing new places and meeting people. It is in their gardens and landscape designs. She taught them how to plant with the right amendments and fertilizers and how to prune to encourage growth or enhance the beauty of their shrubs and trees. When their plants are blooming they use them in floral arrangements, especially Ikebana - like she used to do. They hear her voice saying they should always try something at least once because “… it will curl your eyelashes and put hair on your chest!”. She is their example of living healthy by eating well and exercising (She continued to do Tai Chai into her 90s). Her hallmark characteristic was noticing and appreciating the simple and ordinary things; like the sun rising and setting, the chirping of birds or a cool gentle breeze on a warm evening with the fragrance of whatever was in bloom nearby She would encourage you to “take the time to smell the roses”.

Anna is survived by her husband, Yoshinobu Oshiro, Pearl City Hawaii; children: Glenn Ebat, Las Vegas NV; Kevin Ebat, Gig Harbor WA and Victoria Ebat-Selke (Gary Selke), Port Orchard WA. Yoshinobu’s children: Earl Oshiro (Lorna) and daughter Ann Wong (Oren). Siblings: Trinidad Nabarrete, Yuma AZ; Cornelio Nabarrete, Waipahu HI and Cirilo Nabarrete Jr, Santa Clara CA. She is also survived by 14 grandchildren and 19 (soon to be 20) great grandchildren.

Her family requests if you are considering a memorial gift to make a Tribute Gift in her name to the Alzheimer’s Association.

https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2df_id=49260&mfc_pref=T&49260.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T&32112.donation=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_campaign=google_giving&s_subsrc=giving&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7_Xqvdzk9gIVYgh9Ch36SwzUEAAYASABEgLL2fD_BwE

Memorial Services on Saturday - May 21, 2022

St Gabriel Church
1150 Mitchel Ave, Port Orchard, WA 98366
Funeral Mass 11:00 am PDT
If unable to attend in person, Mass will be live streamed at:
https://stgabrielchurch.org/video streaming/ video stream funeral/wedding

Celebration of Life
Rill’s Life Tribute Center
1151 Mitchel Ave, Port Orchard, WA 98366
Following Mass at St. Gabriel

Attire: Casual and bright colors – like her gardens. Definitely Aloha shirts