Dr. Ron. S. Ito Jr. had a big heart and a smile to match.
People said that he’d give you the shirt off his back and that his gift for listening made him the caring husband, father and doctor he was known to be.
“We had a wonderful marriage,” said his wife, Mary Ito. “We were there for our children.”
And so, it was no surprise he was with them last week teaching a class at a Tae Kwon Do studio near the couple’s home in Snellville when that great big heart gave out.
Feeling sick, Dr. Ito sat in a corner and died. Doctors said he had a heart attack. He was 47. He was loved. He will be dearly missed, Mrs. Ito said, her voice cracking.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at Cannon United Methodist Church in Snellville, with Dr. Tom Elliott and Dr. Amy Morgan officiating. A reception will follow at the church. Later this month, his remains will be flown to Hawaii and scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
Dr. Ito was one of six children born to Joann Ito of Columbus and the late Shigeru Ito.
He graduated from Columbus High School in Columbus, Ga., before going on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from Mercer University and his MD from Morehouse School of Medicine.
He met his wife, Mary, in 1993 during a visit to Hawaii. Mr. Ito was a medical student and she was a traveling nurse.
Two years later, they married in Madisonville, Ky., were Dr. Ito was doing his family practice residency at Trover Clinic.
After driving 10,000 miles cross-country in 1996, the couple settled in Snellville.
There, Dr. Ito, a board-certified family practitioner, joined the Emory Clinic and then continued to practice medicine in the Snellville area. He was working with the Greater Gwinnett Internal Medicine Associates when he passed.
When he wasn’t taking care of his patients, Mrs. Ito said her husband was focused on loving her and rearing “strong, Christian, loving children.”
“They all looked like him,” Mrs. Ito said, laughing.
In addition to being a Tae Kwon Do instructor, Dr. Ito volunteered with Boy and Cub Scout Troop 553 and at W.R. Cannon United Methodist Church in Snellville, where he was active in many of the church’s ministries.
“He was a deeply caring man,” Mrs. Ito said. “He listened and people loved him because they actually felt like he cared.”
Mrs. Ito recalled a recent conversation she had with one of the couple’s friends. After weeks of looking for a doctor near their new home, the man said his wife decided she’d continue seeing Dr. Ito even though the commute was longer.
“I’m just going to drive to Snellville,” the man’s wife told him. “I can’t find anyone like him.”
Mrs. Ito said she and her husband loved traveling, scuba diving and hiking. For their 15th wedding anniversary, the family went on a cruise to Mexico.
“I was so fortunate to marry my best friend,” Mrs. Ito said. She recalled their decision to inscribe on their wedding invitation “our marriage is a promise of friendship and laughter.”
“That was our marriage,” she said. “We laughed. We had fun. We had a good life.”
Besides his wife and mother, Dr. Ito is survived by his two sons, Stephen and Blake; two daughters, Jasmine and Lily Ito, all of Snellville; brothers Herbert and Edward Ito, of Champaign, Ill.; Robert Ito, of Calif.; Sisters Evelyn Stahl of Columbus; and Grace Conner of Bolingbrook, Ill.
In lieu of flowers, an educational fund has been established for the Ito children. Deposits may be made at any SunTrust Bank, Account# 1000141099704, or mailed to Branch Manager, SunTrust Bank, 2440 Wisteria Drive, Snellville, GA, 30078, payable to M. Ito.
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