Student and former teacher keep in contact over 57 years
Marveen Moody, a Winston County native and former teacher, made a friend for life during her teaching stint in Japan in 1962.
Moody took her first teaching job at Narimasu Elementary School in Japan in 1962 and she was ready for the adventure. She explored the country. She climbed Mount Fuji, the highest volcano in Japan at 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft). She made life long memories and at least one life long friend.
When Moody left the school at the end of the school year in 1962 she gave each student her address in Mississippi and asked that they write her.
Gary Sugino now of Puerto Rico but a student of Moody’s in 1962 took her up on that request. With paper, pen and stamps, they developed a correspondence over 57 years and three visits.
Sugino was born October 1954 in Japan. He attended Narimasu Elementary School from 1st grade 1960 to 1961 and Marveen Moody taught him in 1961 to 1962 in second grade.
Sugino started writing Moody during that summer and kept on writing and Moody would always write back.
Sugino was encouraged by his father, Mankato Sugino to always write Moody back and respond quickly.
“My father thought it was rude not to respond quickly when someone wrote you a letter,” said Gary Sugino.
His father was born in Eden, California in January 25, 1922 as an American of Japanese descent he was detained by the federal government in a relocation camp in Tule Lake, California and Heart Mountain, Colorado. Even though, the government detained Makoto Sugino wanted to serve his country and try to enlist in the U.S. Army. After 3 tries, the US Army enlisted him and in 1945 he was sent to Japan as an Intelligence Specialist and Japan linguist for General Douglas MacArthur. Makoto Sugino assisted in the translating and reading of the declaration of execution of Hideki Tojo the general over Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
His father served in the U.S. Military until 1953 and served in the U.S. civil service until 1992 and died in April of 201.
Gary Sugino witnessing his father’s service completed high school at Yamato High School in Japan and went to college at University of Illinois, Bradley University, Purdue University, and New York University and then joined the U.S. Navy and served from 1974 to 2013. He then worked at Inland Steel and later Baxter Healthcare and Abbott Labs.
During his life journeys through the Navy and careers after the military, he and Marvin Moody kept a faithful correspondence with a three visits of the years with the most recent one in October 2019. The last time he had visited was in 1973.
Upon his most recent visit, Sugino prepared Omochi for a meal with Moody and her guests.
Moody presented Sugino with artwork she had gotten in Japan back in 1962 upon his visit.
Moody also had all her scrapbooks and photos from her time in Japan to talk with Sugino about and reminisce about the uncountable thoughts, ideas, family and other things they had shared over 57 years of letters. Moody had everyone of the letter Sugino had sent her over the years in boxes and with keepsakes.
After decades of mailing letters, Moody noted that she is very thankful to have connection to one of her students, which has grown into a lifelong friendship. She hopes that Sugino and several of her other students can plan a get together in the future.
Before the days of Facebook and social media, a stamp and words on a page would travel thousands of miles to allow persons to connect and now others liked and supported them.
