Love and support for Michael Narazaki's family

Your generosity in loving memory of Michael will help his wife Miki raise their three young children in the way Michael worked tirelessly to support. We also wanted to tell you a bit about Michael's life and a few things that you might not have known about him. 

Michael Narazaki was born in Hong Kong to his parents who met in the 1950s in New York as students at Julliard and NYU. The Narazaki family, including Michael’s three siblings, relocated to Tokyo a few years later, and Michael began attending The American School in Japan, graduating in 1986 and matriculating to Carnegie Mellon University. A perfectionist at heart and ever fascinated with “how things work,” Michael pursued a degree in mechanical engineering with diligence and focus, the manner in which he pursued everything in life.

 

A car fanatic since childhood, after graduating from CMU in 1990, Michael landed a job with Honda Manufacturing in Marysville, Ohio. He later transferred to Honda R&D, where he began to specialize in automotive interiors, and later in automotive instrument panels, co-authoring a number of patents along the way. Michael relocated to Honda’s North American headquarters in Torrance, California ten years later, and it was there in Los Angeles that he met and later married his wife Miki. After transferring back to Marysville, he continued to dedicate himself to Honda R&D for the next eleven years, serving a total of thirty years with the company.

 

Michael was a devoted husband, and a doting father to his three children (ages 5, 9, and 11). They warmed his heart and could easily draw out his playfulness. He loved camping trips, biking, and skiing with his family, and was dedicated to spending as much time with them as he was able to despite his intense work schedule. As an able handy man and amateur carpenter, Michael took pride in improving the family home, building a pantry and transforming an open space into a study. One of Michael’s prized possessions was his Honda S2000 “Club Racer” hardtop convertible, which he enjoyed driving through the Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina. Few know that Michael was also a musician -- he was skilled enough at the French horn that his teacher in high school tried to convince him to pursue French horn performance at the collegiate level. Michael was also a natural athlete, playing tennis in high school, and recently certifying as a ski instructor after expressing a desire to teach kids to ski as a retirement pastime.

 

He was a kind soul. We will deeply miss his all-knowing, sly-yet-shy smile and his quiet presence as husband, father, brother, son, uncle, and friend. Rest in peace, Michael, we love you dearly.