P3d Makoto

[Francesca Cruiz]

MakotoTanaka, 49, of Lexington passed away suddenly from a pulmonary embolism on June 23, 2020. Makoto was the beloved husband of Yoko Tanaka and devoted father of three children, Hina, Yuki, and Tora, all of Lexington. He is also survived by his mother Michiko Tanaka of Tokyo, Japan and his younger sister Migiwa Tanaka, brother-in-law Tanjim Hossain, and niece Tofa Hossain of Toronto, Canada.

Born in Cairo, Egypt, Makoto also lived in Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan, Houston, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia before settling in Lexington, Massachusetts in 2010 with Yoko to raise their young family. He embraced his life here with joy and became an active member of the community. He had just celebrated becoming an American citizen earlier this month and was looking forward to casting his first vote in November.

Outgoing, curious, and unfailingly positive, Makoto always took the time to talk and listen. He made friends wherever he went. A savvy computer whiz, he worked hard and traveled frequently for his systems engineering job at Rakuten USA where he was employed since 2014. He was also a Free BSD enthusiast and was working on developing a new project with his friends. His love of sports started with rugby, which he played throughout his student years in Tokyo and Houston, and extended to all sorts of American professional sports. This huge hockey fan (Go Bruins!) was often found at a local ice rink, cheering on the local youth teams or practicing his own shots on goal.

Makoto had many loves: good food, sports, aviation, automobiles, and home improvement projects. He could often be found enjoying a good dinner of red meat, steak or hamburgers. But above all, he treasured spending time with his family. He loved playing air traffic control games with Tora, attending school concerts by Yuki, and supervising Hina's art work. He loved taking his family out to eat at their favorite restaurants, grilling in his backyard, and just being together with them. He also did not like to be late or make people wait, so he was usually very early to any event he attended. He will be deeply missed.

Calling hours will be held at the Douglass Funeral Home, 51 Worthen Rd. Lexington on Monday July 6 from 4pm to 6pm. A fund to assist the family through this time of crisis has been established by colleagues and friends. Contributions can be made via gofundme at -makoto-tanaka.

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