Etsuo Ishida was born on September 21, 1950, in Shizuoka, Japan as the second of three sons to Satoru and Omiko Ishida. From a young age into adulthood, he was an avid baseball player.

He studied optics, which is the branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light at Tokai University in Tokyo, Japan and graduated in 1972. After graduation, he worked at Toyo Shigyo printing company in Osaka, Japan where he eventually became a manager. In 1974 he started attending the Mindan church in Osaka and eventually moved to Tokyo to become a full-time member when he was 24 years old.

Etsuo met his wife, Mihoko, in the church and married in November 1982 in Tokyo, Japan.

He remained an active and devoted member of the church and traveled around the world, including to Israel twice, Korea multiple times, and to the Bahamas for an outreach conference. Etsuo was a long-time evangelist, Japanese community leader, and outreach activist.

His hobbies included tennis, fishing, and tending to his various fruit trees.

Etsuo Ishida passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Kensington, MD, on Friday morning, February 28, 2025 at the age of 74. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Mihoko, their two daughters, Kana and Yuri, first grandson Teddy, and second grandson due to be born in July 2025.