On behalf of Dawn and the Dacy & Burnett family, we thank you so much for all who came out to the ball field to celebrate David Dacy's life. It was a family & friend reunion. For those who could not attend we surely felt your presence. Thank you for all who prayed our family through this journey. You are all so precious to us and are grateful to have you in our lives.
David's Video Remembrance:
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https://youtu.be/zS80KmTFPjE
Tributes
Leave a tributeSee you again.
I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
I have many happy memories with my Uncle David Dacy, but there is a particular one I'll always cherish..
In April of 1996, for my 11th birthday, Auntie Dawn and Uncle Dave gave me a card with the gift - 'good for a movie date of my choice'. I rubbed my hands with glee and agonised over said choice. Still don't know how he got my dad (John Dacy) to agree, but I settled on the PG-13 film Twister. Dave bought me a family sized bag of Skittles on the way in, and a humongous cup of Coke when we got there. I managed to chow my way through the Skittles before the previews were over and then spent the entire film enraptured with the special effects and the tornadoes with Dave quietly chuckling beside me at my reactions. My love of all things severe weather (and Skittles) started on that day and I can quote most of the script from Twister now as I've seen it dozens of times. I will always remember how grown up I felt being with my super cool Uncle David, and hanging out with him made me feel like we owned the world. To this day, it's still one of the best birthday presents I've ever had. This is a memory I will cherish all of my days.
You are now whole in spirit and body
We moved to Rancho in 1976 and the Dacy family was one of the key families to welcome us and help us feel at home at FBC. The youth group was the place that accepted Tami and I with open arms...Jeff kept the ladies busy in the nursery! Thanks David for your beautiful smile and generous spirit....a reflection of your beautiful parents and their awesome parenting. You will be greatly missed!
This is what I am thinking about, even in the midst of the heart ache of losing him.......the magnificent grace that David showed in going through his Alzheimer's and Primary Progressive Aphasia journey. That kind of grace can only come from God!
I will see David again!
Cousins, family,
Six or seven years ago, my cousin David (about 4years older and almost a foot taller) was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.
Over the course of time he spoke less but always had his great smile. I saw him about three years ago ( he had just given up driving) and he looked good, interacted well, laughed and smiled, but just didn't say a whole lot as his words were being erased one by one.
I remember him as a handsome, gregarious, fun loving guy who loved and was loved by everyone he met.
The last year or so has been a challenge and struggle for him, his caregivers, my cousins, his wife, and my aunt (his mother and the matriarch of the Baker-Granger/Dacy line).
To witness the slow, gradual decline of such an outgoing young man has been tough on everyone around him as well as extended friends and family.
I know my aunt has had an especially tough time of it; watching her eldest son go from bigger than life to almost a two dimensional image or even a placeholder, if you will.
Hope was ever-present that maybe he would return or just stabilize and coast a bit longer until a cure could be found -at least in my mind as I sat 2,000 miles away.
Iknow for those by his side, hope was just one of the myriad of intense emotions they felt every single day; depending upon what new issue arose as David began to quickly decline.
I know it has been hard on my other cousins watching their older brother, the guy they've known all their lives, slowly leave while also watching the toll it took on their mother, helpless, to stop her son's slow departure.
I can't even begin to comprehend the pain, frustration, and loss Dawn, his wife, has suffered; watching the man she fell in love with so long ago, involuntarily leave her a little bit each day.
At fifteen, when my dad died in a motorcycle accident, I reconciled myself to the fact we will all eventually lose our parents, or siblings, and everyone we've ever loved. It's just a fact of life.
But only the most insidious of things causes a mother to lose her child. And only the worst of those would make her watch it happen, little by little.
The last remnant of my cousin David, finally left his body last night at 10pm. His struggle has now ended.
My thoughts and prayers go to my cousin, David, and to all who loved and cared for him.
I find solace in the Horizon Prayer, my favorite part:
"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing but the limit of our sight."
Rest In Peace David: son, husband, brother, uncle, leader, friend, and an amazing cousin.
The three Pinkston girls grew up with the four Dacy boys, playing in their backyard, playing spin the bottle and learning that boys were not as gentle as girls. They played tricks on us girls! One time during hide-n-seek I was hiding in the dark shed with Dave while John looked for all of us. Dave warned me not to scream when John slammed the door, trying to scare me and reveal our hiding spot. He was correct and I didn't scream. Another time I was on Dave's volleyball team and set up a spike for him, which he successfully nailed. Everyone congratulated him but he quietly turned around and said "good set." He was a gentleman. Loved his smile.
He always had a happy beautiful smile. I remember David once holding me over the railing on the 2nd story of the old building at church!!! Scared me to death but he laughed that booming laugh so I figured I was ok. :)
That SMILE! His whole face smiled, not just his mouth.
Camping in the redwoods, Kilgore cemetery pranks, hanging out in the park behind their house, that great smile with always the mischievous twinkle in his eye!
One time when I was speeding around Rancho in my car(17) a bright light came on in my back window and I new I was gonna get a ticket! Imagine my surprise and joy it was David he had a big smile on this face with that twinkle in his eye! He said "I got ya!" He then told me not to roll down my window and unlock your door until i know it's a cop. He was alway a gentle man watching out for others.
He was definitely my favorite drummer for youth choir. Remember how it poured rain on us camping at Yosemite
I remember his lollipop kiss and he would always do that on my son with Bobby Dacy. I remember the times (when I was the youth leader at FBC) we would try and toilet paper his house and he would always catch us in the act. He would jump out of his house and run down the street to get us. He was a great and awesome fun loving person.
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Eulogy for David that I shared at his service April 22, 2016
Today is a very tragic day. My brother, David, lost his life far too soon. He had a lot left to accomplish and it is sad that he isn’t here with us. However, today we should not focus on the grief, but instead celebrate his life. My brother was a wonderful man who lived his life to the fullest and would want us to celebrate his accomplishments today.
My brother was only one year older than me. We were close enough in age that we were very close and shared a lot of the same friends. Even though he was only a year older, he was extremely protective over me. There were times when I didn’t understand this and even resented it, but as I got older I realized that he just wanted what was best for me.
David and I were very close. We occasionally had sibling rivalries, but it was because usually we were both competing for the same girls. We used to have so much fun in our high school church youth Group. Our Sunday evening after church activities usually involved a car chase, jaunts to Kilgore Cemetery, Shakey’s Pizza or getting ice cream at Spoon and Straw. I am ashamed to admit that with David there were the occasional egg throws, or lawn jobs, toilet papering, and other things I just can’t bring myself to say.
When we were growing up, I used to think that David was so cool. Girls seemed to flock to him and the guys all wanted to be his best friend. I wanted to be just like him. He was an incredible athlete that loved baseball and softball. I remember some of our summer vacations used to consist of traveling all over California following David’s Babe Ruth Baseball team while he played in state championships. He could really knock that baseball or softball out of the park with ease. He was an incredible outdoorsman too. He loved to camp, hunt, and go exploring in nature in the Sierra’s and Idaho.
David was a loving and dedicated son. He loved his mother and father very much. After our Dad passed away, David could be found at mom’s house cleaning gutters, hanging Christmas lights, trimming trees, laying tile, etc. He was very overprotective of mom and was always concerned about her welfare, making sure she always used her home alarm system whether home or not. I saw the tables turn as mom became overprotective when Dave was ill and could no longer care for himself. She became one of his caregivers and did so with such great grace and sacrifice.
He was an incredible uncle to all of his nieces and nephews and could always be found on the floor wrestling with them or planning some prank for others. David would ask them to smell their birthday cakes and then proceed to push their faces into their cakes. He loved to buy loud, musical toys for them and chuckled as the rest of us bemoaned them. He would take them hunting for rattlesnakes, 4-wheeling in the foothills, and when my sons were young and said black and white movies were no good, David allowed them to watch Psycho.
My brother was a dedicated and loving husband to Dawn. He always spoke highly of his life with Dawn and loved her more than anything in life. Whenever I spent time with him and Dawn I could tell how much they loved each other. Whenever he called Dawn on her phone, he would start the conversation with, “Hello, Gorgeous”. I will always be there for Dawn for anything she needs.
I came to hate Alzheimer’s very much, especially as David’s life continued to deteriorate. I would like to ask you participate with me and join my team at the Alzheimer’s Fund Raiser Walk scheduled for Saturday, October 1, 2016. We will walk and celebrate David’s memory together. I have a sign-up sheet for those interested in participating. If you are not able to walk, but would like to sponsor a walker, there is a place for you to sign up, too.
I know that it will be very difficult for my family going forward without David in our lives. However, I also know that my brother would not want us to be overwhelmed with sadness. He has been made new with a new body and mind. He was a very strong and positive individual and would always look for the best in any situation and would want us to do the same. Let’s remember David for all of his great qualities and appreciate the time we spent with him. We should make sure that his memory lives on in all of us for as long as we live.
Four brothers
I don't even know where to start with the stories. There are so many great times four boys can have! One memory was cooling off apparently hot, innocent pedestrians with a bombardment of water balloons from the back windows of the family station wagon, which David figured out if you turn the air cleaner cover over, it sounds like a hot rod. I also recall running through the park behind our house.....not because we craved exercise but because for some reason, a dog owner released his Doberman pincher named "Charlie" with the command to "get em Charlie" on four innocent boys......perhaps had something to do with eggs and an RT bus on Zinfandel? How about four young boys attempting to set their garage on fire using candles to blacken the rafters from our fort in the garage. The term half-way house across the park sure brings back memories of midnight swims and other fun. One of the best is when we decided we wanted a lot of leaves in our backyard to jump into and play football in. I guess with two mulberry trees and a cherry tree mom and dad probably thought we had plenty. Not enough for four boys! We volunteered to take up all of our neighbors leaves and brought them to our back yard. I am pretty sure mom and dad were amazed at how many leaves we had that year. Drive-in movies (with everyone in the trunk) and scaring everyone after church on Sunday nights at Kilgore cemetary with "Dolly". Playing softball with Dave especially in our Snoball tournaments at Lake Tahoe. We played at 8 a.m. With the temp at 8 degrees and three feet of snow on the field. When we returned to our house in Tahoe Donner to BBQ tri-tip, the propane kept freezing. David volunteered to take the tank in the hot tub with him to warm it up....that didn't really work but made for some great photo ops. David will be sorely missed. He had a twinkle in his eye and the best smile ever! Going to miss you bro! Love you David.
One of my favorites is a softball story as well. We were playing Rec. league at W.E. Mitchell Jr. High school in Rancho Cordova. David was batting, I was coaching first base. He hit the living daylights out of the ball to deep right. It landed on the far side of the blacktop path, bounced onto the track, and kept rolling down the track. (Look up Mitchell on a map website, you'll see how far it went.) I think David crossed the plate before the right fielder got to the ball. When the ball finally made it back, it was egg-shaped. After the season, his bat had a permanent bow due to the force applied. He was such a strong man. I played ball with David for more than twenty years, and never tired of being on the field with him. He was a competitive gentleman, something of a rarity. My world is a smaller place.