Ronald M. Katsuyama

Ronald Katsuyama, 76, passed away peacefully March 2nd with his wife Jane and family by his side after bravely battling cancer. Ron grew up in San Francisco and was a member of the Boy Scouts Troop 12. He graduated from Washington High School and U.C. Berkeley and earned a Ph.D from Vanderbilt University. He retired from the University of Dayton in 2017 and was honored as a professor emeritus of psychology. Ron was among the 120,000 Americans and Japanese immigrants incarcerated by the U.S. government during WWII. The experience inspired his commitment to fight for civil rights, serving as Japanese American Citizens League National Board VP, Dayton JACL president, and Japanese American National Museum Governor.

In Ohio, he co-founded the Dayton Asian American Council and Ohio Asian American Coalition, and served on the Ohio Governor’s Asian Pacific Islander Advisory Committee for Governors Strickland, Kasich, and DeWine. He helped bring George Takei to Dayton to perform the musical “Pacific Overtures.” Ron loved running marathons, especially in New York and San Francisco.

He is survived by his wife Jane, children Sean (Hyunju) and Jana (Tito), grandson Tatsuo, niece Kathy Brodowy (Bret) and many relatives. A celebration of his life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that remembrances be made to the National JACL “Ron Katsuyama Memorial Fund” https://jacl.org/donate.