Ken Tatsuo Katano

Ken Tatsuo Katano passed on July 13, 2026, at the age of 61 in Baltimore, Maryland, after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer. He was born on October 26, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois to Gary and Midori Katano.

Ken is survived by his wife, Melissa J. Katano; his sons, Nicholas D.M. Katano and Christopher T. Katano; his sister Lori and brother-in-law, Kevin Stuhlmann, currently of Detroit, MI; as well as his in-laws, Jan and David Gunnels of Virginia, and his brother-in-law, Michael Gunnels. He is preceded in death by his parents, Gary T. and Midori Katano.

Ken graduated from Von Steuben High School in 1982 and was class Valedictorian. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1986 with a degree in Computer Engineering and was employed by the federal government until his retirement in 2022.

Ken was a man of varied interests from podcasts about the Disney and Universal theme parks to board games, to TTRPGs, to watching sports. Among his favorite board games were Advance Squad Leader, Ticket to Ride, and his newest train game based on the Chicago rails. He was a member of the Meade Battle Game club. He loved watching the Olympics, especially curling. Although he grew up rooting for the Cubs and the Bears, he equally cheered on the Orioles and the Ravens. He was a member of the Wide Bar Fantasy Baseball League (and won it twice!). He enjoyed traveling and planning our vacations, most frequently to Hawai’i and WDW. He constantly was on the lookout for “hidden gems” that would make a trip unique. He also liked cooking, and watching cooking and travel shows on PBS. Ken enjoyed reading, mainly science fiction, fantasy, and history. Some of his favorite authors were Robert H. Heinlein, David Brin, Douglas Adams, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. Some of his favorite tv shows were Doctor Who (Tom Baker was his favorite Doctor, although he thought David Tennant was excellent), Sherlock, Babylon 5 and the Mandalorian. We enjoyed going to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. He also enjoyed watching web series “The Guild.”

He enjoyed listening to 80’s music and yacht rock. We would debate what “yacht rock” really meant. He loved the brilliance of Weird Al Yankovic.

Ken was proud of his Japanese heritage and often donated money to the National Japanese American Museum.

His greatest love was for his wife, Missy, and their sons, Nick and Chris. As long as we were happy, everything was good.

A memorial for Ken will be planned for later. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to either the American Cancer Society (https://www.cancer.org), or the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation (https://www.npcf.us).