A veteran Hawaiʻi Republican lawmaker says he will leave the Legislature at the end of the month due to health problems.

Rep. Gene Ward, who represents Hawaiʻi Kai, Kalama Valley and Portlock in the state House of Representatives, will step down March 31, more than a month before the end of the current session.

“As some of you are already aware, over the past few months I have experienced several health setbacks including anemia and sciatica,” Ward, 82, said in a statement. “Recently, I was diagnosed with pneumonia. The recovery from various health issues has been a slow and painful process.”

Ward received praise for his service from Gov. Josh Green and House Speaker Nadine Nakamura, both Democrats, as well as House Republican Caucus Leader Lauren Matsumoto and House Minority Floor Leader Diamond Garcia.

“Gene was always up for the good fight and would go the extra mile for any issue he felt strongly about,” Matsumoto said in a statement. “Honestly, he’s been such a fixture here that this session hasn’t been the same without him.”

In the Democrat-controlled state Senate, meantime, Sen. Mike Gabbard read Ward’s retirement statement aloud to his colleagues during floor session Friday.

Ward is a Vietnam veteran who served as a translator-interpreter, according to his official House biography. He also served in the Peace Corps in East Timor.

Ward served in the House from 1990 to 1998, when he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Congress. He served as a presidential appointee under the second Bush administration in the USAID Office of Democracy and Governance as a senior democracy adviser from 1999-2004.

Ward returned to the state House in 2006. He is a former House minority leader.

A holder of a Ph.D. from the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa, Ward taught at Chaminade and Hawaiʻi Pacific University as an adjunct professor.

The vacancy for the District 18 seat will be filled by the governor, who will choose from three area applicants approved by Republicans in the district.