JASON BABA / HONOLULU ATTORNEY

Isle lawyer dedicated
to family, hard work

Jason Baba was also active
in various organizations

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By Kelliann Shimote
kshimote@starbulletin.com

Honolulu attorney Jason Baba, known for his hard work and dedication, died Friday while kayaking at Kualoa Beach Park.

Baba, managing partner for Bays Deaver Lung Rose & Baba, was 44.

He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He then graduated with a law degree at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1983.

Baba returned to Hawaii and joined the firm in 1987 as a construction, real estate and commercial litigation attorney. In January 2001, he was promoted to managing partner.

"He was just an excellent attorney. He worked really hard ... but his true passion was his family," said law firm partner Crystal Rose.

Baba's hobbies included surfing and playing the guitar, Rose said.

"(He was) very well-rounded," she said. "For him, his wife and his kids were his life. It was just a devastating loss to all of us."

Baba was active in the National Commercial Builders Council since 1994 and served as a director for the Building Industry Association of Hawaii from 1998 to 1999. He also served as an arbitrator in civil cases for the state of Hawaii.

He is survived by wife Marlene, children Jeremy and Caitlin, brothers Jerome and John, sisters Janine Baba and Julianne Kaya, and mother Irene Yee Baba.

Services are scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday at Borthwick Mortuary. Visitors may call from 2 p.m. Additional services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Borthwick. Burial will be at noon Monday at Hawaiian Memorial Park Cemetery.

The firm organized a scholarship fund for Baba's children. Donations can be made to Baba Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1760, Honolulu 96806.