Robin Cho, a second-generation pressman for The Advertiser, lost his three-year battle with cancer Thursday. He was 38.

Cho, who came to work at The Advertiser after graduating from the Academy of the Pacific in 1986, will be remembered for his ready smile and gentle ways. Shy to most, Cho often would open up to those who knew him, said Richie Santillo, who worked side-by-side with Cho for 15 years.

"He was kind of shy," Santillo said. "Once you got to know him, he was very funny and open. He was a good friend of mine. Like a brother to me."

Santillo and Cho worked with Walter Soh in The Advertiser's in-house print shop until it was closed four years ago. When The Advertiser opened its new Kapolei printing plant in 2004, Cho worked as a pressman. In all, Cho worked 21 years at The Advertiser.

"He was a blessing to anyone who knew him," said Soh, who retired in 2002. "He was really outstanding."

Cho was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 when it first appeared in one of his kidneys, said Clarence Cho, Robin Cho's father and a former pressman at The Advertiser until his retirement in 1998. With each new diagnosis, Cho said his son met the news with strength and courage, and always worried more about his family than himself.

A Kailua resident, Cho is survived by his wife, Trina; daughters, Kayla and Alexa; parents, Clarence and Lynn; sisters, Dodi Holeyfield, Sandra Cho, Stephanie Kamakane, Tracy Cho; and brothers, David Veniegas, Richard Brown, Philip and Murray.

"He was a model child," Clarence Cho said. "He never gave my wife and I any problems. We always said that everyone should have a son like him."

Co-worker Pam Santos said of Cho's battle with cancer: "He was so brave and he just had such a strong faith. I know he's OK now. I will miss him so much."

Visitation will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the First Assembly of God Church, 3400 Moanalua Road. Services will be held at 6:30 p.m. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Hawaiian Memorial Park in Kane'ohe. Aloha attire. Arrangements by Moanalua Mortuary.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.