Dr. Noriko Shimizu

Noriko Shimizu (Ph.D. Anatomy, 1985, Chiba University, Japan), born 12 November 1956 (Tokyo, Japan), died 28 April 2025 (Frederick, Maryland, United States). Daughter of Mitsuo and Nobuko Shimizu.

Noriko came to the United States in 1985 and did post-doctoral work at the University of Chicago. After receiving direct NIH funding, moved to Beth Israel Hospital (now Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) in Boston, and later to the University of South Carolina at Columbia, where she taught human anatomy as part of the medical teaching faculty. Thereafter she moved to the Geisinger Institute in Danville, Pennsylvania, from which she retired after experiencing debilitating kidney failure and receiving a kidney transplant in 1999.

Noriko married Courtland Eugene Yockey in Danville, Pennsylvania on 18 June 1999, and she became a US Citizen in November 2022.

Her kidney transplant lasted for more than 20 years, but it started to fail in 2023; her health declined while on dialysis in 2024, eventually leading to her death in 2025. Noriko was an avid dog lover and trainer and was very proud to have coached her dog, Mimi, for more than five years as a nationally-recognized agility competitor.

Her parents preceded her in death, as did her two Golden Retrievers, Cocoa and Karin. Noriko and Courtland had no children. Noriko is survived by two sisters, Motoko Shimizu and Junko Shingu, nephews Takuma and Hokuto, and niece Misaki. She is also survived by her two dogs, Mimi and Jay.

Cremation took place in Frederick, Maryland. Noriko’s cremains will be returned to Japan for interment in the Shimizu family burial site outside of Tokyo.

Those interested in donating are encouraged to provide support to Infinite Legacy (https://www.infinitelegacy.org/), a tissue and organ donation charity that benefited greatly from Noriko's posthumous donations.