Our landscape community lost 2 important members this year.
Posted on Aug. 5, 2026 / People in the News / Subscribe 0
Honoring two legends in the Hawaii landscape industry: Reyland Ito and Stephen F Mechler.
Reyland Ito
Reyland Satoru Ito 53, of Aiea, died in Aiea on April 16, 2026. He was born in Honolulu.
Rey was actively involved with LICH and the landscaping industry. He taught pesticide classes, lectured at LICH conferences, conducted research projects with Dr. Joe DeFrank, and judged for the CLT program for years.
His reach went far beyond Hawaii.
Below was an email sent in from Matt Martin, internet influencer with a YouTube channel on turfgrass management.
“When I was nineteen and studying turfgrass in college - this was around 2006 - I was lucky enough to land an internship building a par-3 course and driving range. I was completely overwhelmed and lost in the world, in more ways than one. So I did what you did back then: I found a forum. And night after night, I read every post from one user - GreenDoc.
I dug as deep as I could, chasing down anything and everything he'd ever written. I was too shy to reach out directly, so I just read. We laughed about it years later - I was his silent stalker. But through his writing alone, I didn't just get by on that course; I grew. It reshaped my life and my career.
Ten years later, I'd gone out on my own as a full-time fertilizer and pesticide applicator. I was broke, beaten, and lost in the world again. I started posting on YouTube, partly to market my company locally, partly as a release. For whatever reason, the videos started to do well, and one day I saw a comment from a user named ReyIto. As his old silent stalker, I knew that name in an instant. I replied and asked: are you the GreenDoc of Hawaii?
He was.
I asked for his phone number, and we started talking - regularly, for years. Eventually I asked Rey to come host on the channel, and he gladly said yes. Through it, we were able to bring him to the mainland to meet so many of the followers, fans, and students he'd quietly helped for decades - finally, in person.
Rey was, simply, the most knowledgeable person I've ever known in this field, and he never once made you pay for it. He answered anyone who asked, endlessly, and he pushed back just as hard on bad advice as he worked to give good advice. He had done it all, seen it all, and gave every bit of it away for free. For me, and for a lot of us coming up, finding Rey was like being handed the cheat code.
But the part I'll carry forever has nothing to do with turf. Somewhere along the way, Rey became family. He was a brother to me. He was a brother to my wife, Asami - everywhere we went, he'd hold his arm out for her to take, guiding and watching over her, beaming the whole time. He was Uncle Rey to my children, with a soft spot for kids he'd never cop to; every time he saw one of ours, there'd be a gentle "Ohhhh Noah" or "Ohhhhh Lilia" and the kindest, gentlest hug. And he was proud. Rey was proud of his work, of his strength, and in the best shape of his life right to the very end.
Rey leaves a hole in this industry, and in my family, and in the hearts of so many people he helped that no one will ever fill.
My hope is that anyone touched by Rey - his writings or his selfless, endless help = tells a stranger every day that they learned it from the man we all knew and loved as Rey Ito.”
Stephen F Mechler
Birth date:Sep 3, 1952 - Death date:Apr 9, 2026
Steve Mechler was born and raised in Kāne‘ohe on family property where the family still resides. From a young age, he knew he wanted to be a landscape architect and also wanted to build a home for his family on the property hillside. He spent years before building his home planting trees and designing the site for the house so that when he moved in the trees were mature and provided a beautiful sanctuary for his family. His residence remains as a testament to his love for the property.
Steve attended Kainalu and Aikahi Elementary Schools prior to attending Punahou where he graduated in 1970. He received his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design/Landscape Architecture from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Following his graduation from college, he returned home to Hawai‘i to start his career.
Prior to founding The Mechler Corporation in 1993, he was a partner in the firm Tongg, Clarke & Mechler for 12 years and had previously worked at Tongg Associates and Belt Collins, all respected firms in the field of landscape architecture. Steve provided a wide spectrum of landscape architectural services for numerous Hawai’i, U.S. and international projects including residential homes and estates, commercial and office complexes, hotels and resorts, landscape master planning, golf courses and clubhouse facilities, and housing and condominiums. Under his mentorship, numerous designers have become prominent landscape architects in Hawai‘i and credit Steve’s design style for their success.
Steve designed some of the most recognized landscape projects and pool, spa & water features for over 50 years in the islands and internationally. When developer Chris Hemmeter worked to develop “fantasy” resorts on the Big Island, Kaua‘i and Maui, Steve lead the design team on projects like the Hilton Waikoloa Village, Westin Kaua‘i and Westin Maui. Almost every Hawai‘i resort was touched by his design, and that touch also designed projects in Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Guam, Las Vegas, Australia and Taiwan.
He had a very strong art background in drawings and renderings and successfully used this artistic skill to bridge the language gap in numerous international projects and with his clients to visually illustrate his design goals without relying on language or 2 dimensional plans as the primary means of communication.
He served his community for years as a board member and former President of the Outdoor Circle and a board member and Beautification Chair of the Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle which advocates for trees, and was responsible for saving iconic trees through his innovative approach to their use in a design. He was appointed and served for years as a Commissioner on the Mayor’s Commission on Culture & The Arts. Additionally, he previously served as a member of the Urban Design Task Force involved in many of Kailua landscape renovation projects and also on the board of MACZAK (Marine & Coastal Zone Advocacy Council). His work was recognized with the Betty Crocker Landscape Award by Scenic Hawai‘i, The Outdoor Circle Crystal Hibiscus Award and Certificate of Distinguished Service.
Steve is survived by his wife Suzi (Susan), children Lindsay Kawena ‘Ōpunui (Landon) and Cale Mechler (Maile), two grandsons Kūali‘i and Kaula ‘Ōpunui, brother David Mechler (Sylvia Herbstritt) and sister Diane Harding.
Source: Obituary, Visitation & Funeral Information | Stephen F Mechler
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