Ritsu Y. Ito

in her home in the presence of her loving family. She was born

to father Wataru Yanagi and mother Setsuko (Ishii) Yanagi on

August 8, 1928 in Alameda, CA and grew up in Alameda. She was

interned during World War II at the Heart Mountain relocation

camp in Wyoming. After the war her family moved to Colorado,

where she graduated from Manual High School in Denver, and

earned a Bachelor's degree in Medical Technology from the

University of Colorado at Boulder in 1950. She married Jack

Jitsu Ito in 1950, and in 1952 they moved to Minnesota, where

they raised their family. She later retrained as a medical

technologist and worked at Mount Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis.

Ritsu and Jack retired to Colorado in 1986, moving to Boulder,

where they lived the rest of their lives.

As a wife and mother, she was devoted to her family; she was

also a good and generous friend and neighbor.

She enjoyed gardening, cooking, sewing and sports (including

University of Colorado football and basketball).

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Jack, after

51 years of marriage. She was also preceded in death by her

brothers Hiroto and Tamotsu (Tom). She is survived by her son

Robert Ito of Boulder, CO; daughter Joanne Ito and son in law

Thomas Mercado of Olympia, WA; daughter Mary Ito of Roseville,

MN; daughter Elaine Ito and her fiancé Kelly Johnson of

Minneapolis, MN; brother in law Lander Ito, sister in law

Virginia Ito and nephew Alan Ito of Denver, CO; and niece

Irene Tekawa of Berkeley, CA.

A memorial service will be held at Crist Mortuary in Boulder,

CO on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at 1:00 PM.