Mrs. Alice M. Madden

Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Mrs. Alice M. Madden, born Masako Hashimoto, on March 9, 1929, to the late Masakatsu Hashimoto and the late Tatsuyo Hashimoto.  She was born in Toyohashi-shi, Aichi-ken, Japan.  Her father was a general in the Japanese military, and her mother was a homemaker.  Alice was the second of three children.  She had an older brother, the late Yoshinobu Hashimoto and a younger sister, Hisako Miyake.

After World War II Alice began working for a U.S. commander.  It is through work on the U.S. base that she met and fell in love with her late husband, Jesse Madden.  Alice was an interpreter for the U.S. commander and spoke three languages: Japanese, Chinese, and English. It was while working at the U.S. base that her name changed from her formal Japanese name to Alice because her commander could not pronounce her Japanese name and therefore called her Alice.

When Jesse expressed an interest in dating her, he had to hire an interpreter to ask her mother's permission.   Alice married Jesse on March 11, 1952, and they moved to the United States in 1955.  They were married 43 years until his death in January, 1996.

Alice was loved and respected by everyone who knew her.  She became a Christian and was a faithful member of the Clermont church of Christ.  Alice desired most of all for her family back in Japan to become Christians.   She was so excited in recent years when her younger sister, Hisako, decided to become a Christian and flew over from Japan to be baptized.   Alice loved the Lord with all her heart and was most thankful for God's blessings in her life.  She loved her physical family, caregivers Edward (Cap) and Karen Cappellano, and Christian family very much.    She often talked of how God had blessed her with so many lifelong friends, some of whom she had been friends with for over 60 years.

Alice is survived by her sister Hisako Miyake and Hisako's daughters, nieces Hiroko Hisada and Yuko Ogawa.  She is also survived by her late brother's children, nieces Nobuko Tokuhisa and  Mariho Fujikawa.  Alice is also survived by her late husband's daughter, Beverly Crocombe and family and her late husband's brother, Don Madden.

If you knew Alice, you were very blessed.   She is missed, but she is at rest and has gained her eternal heavenly reward.