In Loving Memory of my Dad -

These past few weeks have been both devastating and somehow also immeasurably precious and irreplaceable. I got to spend the last days of my dad’s life by his side. Over these past few weeks we mostly talked, joked, and reminisced about all the fun trouble we have gotten into together over the years. His years long battle with heart and kidney failure still didn’t prepare me for the moment I learned that he had passed at 12:55 AM on Thanksgiving - November 27, 2025- his favorite holiday! 

Now he won’t show up at my house with random baskets of fresh fruit. Or come to steal my children for an ice cream trip to McDonalds. How lucky they are to have had him as their grandpa!

My dad was a jokester and usually had the loudest laugh in the room. It was infectious. When I came home at 19 with my first tattoo, proudly anticipating he would react with horror at my poor decision, he had me convinced for a week that it was ‘no big deal’ and that he had a skull and cross bones on his ass!! LOL 😂 I was so confused! Haha 🤣

Everyone has a story about my dad and they always seemed to revolve around something dangerous like racing sailboats or racing cars or flying planes! ✈️ I mean considering all that (and more I’m sure) it’s kind of amazing he made it to the age of 72 at all! I definitely got my sense of adventure from my dad. He could never sit still.

For years as we grew up together (and those of you who knew dad understand what I mean) we shared a unique bond and respect for each other. He always ‘got me’ and usually that meant getting out of my way! I’ve always been hard headed and he knew how to stand beside me not in front of me from an early age. He was always the loudest fan in the stands for me. Cheering with no regard for anything but making sure I could hear him from the pool playing water polo or the track running (more like hobbling).

When I was screwing up in life - he would tell me. And when he was - I told him. It was always like that and it worked for us. We raised each other in a lot of ways.

Over the years he really was a supportive parent but mostly a friend. I mean he could have stopped me from getting that awful perm in the 7th grade! Or said something when my friend was overzealously plucking out half my eyebrow! LOL (I burnt the photos! So don’t ask.)

We admired each other’s gusto. We both curse (as dad would always say ‘like a sailor!’), and that always got me into some trouble in school but he never corrected me. He let me be who I am …smart mouth and all. He encouraged my strengths and independence and that was what I needed.

When I thought about writing this, I couldn’t fathom how to put into words who my dad was to me so that anyone else could understand. But I guess this is ok.

Fuck. 😭 Miss you already dad. 

~ He will be missed by so many but especially his amazing grandchildren of whom he was incredibly proud of (Isla, Jocelyn, Keola, Kallie, Camden, and Cassiel); his daughters Vanessa and Danielle and their spouses Mirko and Randy, his loving sisters Marsha and Diane, and his devoted partner Marijke who cared for him in so many ways, supporting him especially over these last few years and was an incredible companion to him for many years before that long distance. 

Please share your memories, stories, and personal adventures with him here as we grieve this incredible loss. Thank you for your love and support during this time. A private celebration of life will be planned later. 

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