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Yoko Sugimoto Cortez
06/15/2023

Yoko Sugimoto Cortez, of Salisbury Township, passed away on Thursday, June 15, suddenly in her home where she raised a family and welcomed many with home cooked meals. She is preceded in death by her husband, Frank J. Cortez who passed in 1987 in her arms and her brother, Tadao Sugimoto whom she had last seen when she was 10 years old.

She was a proud member of the the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Yoko worked in the garment industry until her retirement age of 70. Most of her seamstress career was at Leonard Manufacturing.
She was born in Sasebo, Kyushu, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan in 1931 to the late Tamehiko and Mie Sugimoto and was a survivor of WW2. Through the eyes of a child, she witnessed the horrors and heartbreaks of war. She was most proud of immigrating to the U.S. in 1953 as a bride where she would raise children on peaceful land, become an American citizen and a Eagles fan.

Survivors are her son, Adam J. Cortez and his partner, Mary Cole of Allentown; daughter Frances C. Cortez Funk widow of Michael K. Funk, Sr. of Fleetwood; granddaughter Kimiko Palumbo wife of Shawn Palumbo; great-grandson Brayden of Oxford; nieces, nephews, Salisbury community, and her HD friends from Jabber Jaws.

Services: calling hours on Tuesday evening, June 27th from 6-8 p.m. at Nicos C. Elias Funeral Home, 1227 W. Hamilton St., Allentown. A Mass will be held Wednesday, June 28th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, 920 S. 2nd Street, Allentown. Interment following at St. Mark's Cemetery, Allentown.