Hiroko Dyslin is a resident at Morning Pointe of Franklin, Tennessee, but her 90 years have brought her on quite a journey, starting in Japan.
Childhood and World War II
Born in Tokyo in 1933, Hiroko was the fourth of five children. Her father was a banker for Mitsubishi in the city, and her mother was a homemaker.
Japan entered World War II when Hiroko was between the fourth and fifth grade. As the conflict heated up, her family went through a couple of bomb raids before fleeing to a farming village 200 miles from Tokyo.
Hiroko remembers that time like this: “During the war, we did not have many classes. We had to help the farmers. And we didn’t have enough food, so I was hungry.”
Then the war ended.
“As soon as the war was over and my father came to see us, I just took a train and went back to Tokyo,” Hiroko said. “There was no school because my grade school was bombed or burned out. Fortunately, my house still remained intact. The other side of the street was all burned, but my parents’ side was not burned. We did take some classes at other schools, and I graduated from grade school.”
Hiroko went on to high school in Tokyo during the time schools were transitioning to co-educational rather than separating the sexes.
After high school, Hiroko attended a private Methodist university. She graduated with a degree in English literature.
Coming to America, Starting a Family
Meanwhile, Hiroko had met an American man, and the two had been corresponding for a while. After she graduated, they married at the American Embassy in Tokyo.
Hiroko came to the United States in 1957. She embarked from Yokohama Harbor on a Japanese passenger ship and crossed the Pacific Ocean in 13 days. After landing in Seattle, Washington, she took a train to Buffalo, New York, where the family settled.
“I had many good friends in Buffalo,” Hiroko said, “and I was very active in the Chamber of Commerce volunteer work there.”
In Buffalo, the couple had two sons, Tim and Dan.
Work and Volunteering
Hiroko stayed home with the children until they were 5 years old and started school. Then she started work at Women’s & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo as the Inpatient Business Office Manager.
She was there during the transition from using a sorting machine to implementing the use of computers. Hiroko describes it as on-the-job training.
During her working years, Hiroko also worked for a corrugated box company and a materials supply company. But one of the most interesting jobs was as a translator and interpreter. She was sometimes called on when Japanese citizens would travel to New York, go to Niagara Falls, cross into Canada and then get arrested trying to come through the U.S. border. Hiroko would go to the hearing and translate for them.
“Most of the times, they just didn’t know,” Hiroko said. “So, I had to help interpret for them.”
Illinois and Tennessee
Hiroko and her first husband eventually divorced, and she married her second husband, Karl Dyslin, a former Navy Seal, who was working at the Caterpillar, Inc., International Sales Office in Illinois. So, she moved to Peoria, Illinois.
After Karl passed away, Hiroko lived by herself for a time but eventually needed more support. Her son Dan was working in Tennessee, and her daughter-in-law Trisha looked around for a place for Hiroko to live where she could have some assistance.
“Trisha thought this was a good place,” Hiroko said. “I can trust both of them – my son and my daughter-in-law. If I need something done, I can talk to Trisha any time.”
Hiroko moved in to Morning Pointe of Franklin in February 2023.
So, what does Hiroko enjoy about the community?
“The people are so nice – all the staff are so nice and so kind and pleasant,” Hiroko said. “They really try to please the residents.”
Hiroko also enjoys the daily exercises. “You don’t do too much physical work,” she explained. “It’s exercise to keep your body moving.”
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We are so glad that Hiroko is part of our Morning Pointe family. She enriches our community with her unique background and experience, and we are glad to have her with us!
