Zwie Amitai died on April 8, 2009, after a two-and-a-half year battle with lung cancer. He was a beloved member of the Mercer Island community for 11 years. He was born in Israel on Jan. 11, 1954, to Menachem and Paula Erlich. He served in the Israeli Defense Force as a jet-fighter navigator and graduated in 1983 from Ben-Gurion University. He relocated to the United States in 1984 to complete his graduate studies in electrical engineering at Brown University.

Mr. Amitai married Ronit Lev on Oct. 23, 1984, and the couple moved to Mercer Island in 1997 after living in California.

His passions included playing and coaching soccer, skiing, classical music, spending time with his family and raising two service dogs for Canine Companion for Independence.

Mr. Amitai is survived by his three children, Rahn, 21, Gilad, 19, Tamir, 15; wife, Ronit; father, Menachem, and sister, Bella, both of Israel.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 7, at the Eastside Torah Center, 1837 156th Ave. N.E., Suite 303, Bellevue, 98007.

Remembrances are suggested to the Canine Companions for Independence or National Lung Cancer Partnership: www.cci.org and www.nationallungcancerpartnership.org.