WAILUKU, Maui — George Tsutomu Ito, known as "Mr. Maui County Fair" for his decades of devotion to the annual Valley Isle event, died April 19 at age 90.

Ito was instrumental in keeping the popular fair alive when its future seemed in doubt in the late 1980s after Alexander & Baldwin decided to develop the old Kahului Fairgrounds site at Pu'unene and Wakea avenues. Those who worked with him over the years said Ito was a tireless volunteer and persistent task master when it came to overseeing causes dear to his heart.

Ito was born in the plantation town of Pa'ia on June 26, 1916, the same year the fair started. As a child he rode the train to the fairgrounds, and in 1966 was named fair director when the event was organized by the Maui County Fair & Racing Association. Under his ambitious and innovative leadership, fairgoers enjoyed the E.K. Fernandez International Big Circus with acrobats, lions and elephants, pony racing, treasure hunts, professional wrestling, a poi-dog show, and an Old Hawai'i exhibit with an ancient Hawaiian fishing village and live fish.

At A&B's urging, Ito, a retired supervisor for the firm's Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., lived on the fairgrounds for 18 years with his wife, Mabel, caring for the property.

Faced with finding a new site for the 1989 fair, the Maui County Fair & Racing Association bowed out, and Ito spearheaded a new nonprofit group, the Maui County Fair Association, to relocate the event to the War Memorial Complex in Wailuku.

The four-day fair, held annually in late September and early October, continues to flourish at the complex, and surpassed the 100,000 attendance mark in 2004.

"You never told George 'no.' He would constantly call you and come to your office to remind you to do what had to be done," said Michael Victorino, a former county fair director and now a County Council member from Wailuku. "He was the historical pillar of the fair."

The 2005 fair was dedicated to Ito. At this year's event, Victorino said, there will be an empty chair, telephone, writing pad and pencil for him at the fair office.

"That's George Ito's corner. He'll be there in spirit, I guarantee you," he said.

Ito was active in other groups such as the Boy Scouts, the Maui Association of Retarded Citizens, and Lions Club, and helped organize the Greater Pa'ia Reunion in 2001. He served more than 30 years as president of the March of Dimes' Maui division and as a member of the group's state board, withdrawing two years ago because of ill health. He launched the first WalkAmerica fundraiser on Maui and died two days before last weekend's 2007 event, said Carmella Hernandez, state director of the March of Dimes Hawai'i Chapter. The walk, dedicated to Ito, raised $46,000, she said.

"He was just amazing. It never would have happened without him," Hernandez said. "He didn't have children, but it was something he loved and that he knew would help babies.

"Even after he became ill the last couple of years and had to resign, when I would talk to him to see how he was doing he would ask how the walk was going and whether everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing."

Ito is survived by his wife. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Makawao Hongwanji, with a service over urn at 11 a.m. The family requests casual attire and no flowers. Arrangements by Borthwick Norman's Mortuary.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.