David Phillip Brazil

David Philip Brazil born May 27, 1925- June 23, 2017, resident of Fremont and Auburn. Dave passed away peacefully on June 23, 2017 at aged 92. He was preceded in death by the love of his life, his wife Mary Alice Brazil, who passed away in August of 2013, just 3 weeks shy of their 60th anniversary. Dave was born in Gustine, CA. There his dad had a dairy ranch in which Dave contributed through daily chores such as milking the cows, etc. It was on the ranch when at age 13, he suffered a near fatal accident that showed God's Providence. At that time, the extent of his injuries were such that doctors did not give him a chance of surviving. But as it so happened, the accident occurred during a Portuguese religious celebration, and so the family and Portuguese community gathered in prayer, and miraculously he made a full recovery. God’s Providence was evident throughout his life. After high school he joined the Army Signal Corps and served there for about a year. Upon return he reentered civilian life, now at the family residence in Turlock. All through his life the one constant description of him, from his oldest remaining friend Albert Souza, to his caretakers at the end of his life, was that he was friendly and outgoing. Albert recalls in those days that for Dave, "nobody was a stranger". He knew everybody. As a matter of fact, he introduced Al to his future wife, Dorothy. Another example of his outgoing nature was when he lived with his son Ron’s family for a few months in Newark while looking for a place to live in the Bay Area. In that short period of time he met and became friends with more of the neighbors than Ron had in 10 years! He was also known as a prankster. He enjoyed fooling people, like hitting the side of the car to mimic an accident, to a thousand other jokes. The victim was often his wife, who would react with mock outrage, but it could be anybody, including his grandchildren, friends and even total strangers. The famous one they did as youth with he and his brother would put a wallet in the middle of the road tied to a string and hide in a the ditch until somebody stopped. Then as they came after the wallet they would pull the string. Nobody was immune from Dave's tricks. His outgoing nature finally paid off, when one day at a social/spiritual Portuguese celebration called a Festa, this particular one in Gustine, he met his future wife, Mary Soares from Stratford, another small Central Valley farming town. They carried on a trans valley courtship, and were married on September 5, 1953. He moved his young family to the Irvington district of Fremont in 1957 where he first worked as a produce buyer and then as an insurance agent in Centerville until 1982. There in Fremont, Mary and Dave raised their 4 children, Ron, Larry, Steve and Patricia. They both became involved in the activities of St. Joseph parish. While the kids attended school, Mary was involved in the YLI and helped the sisters make their fruit cakes, while Dave was on the Parish Council, the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Knights of Columbus. But he also kept everyone laughing at the parish socials, like the New Year’s eve party, dressing up as a baby in nothing but a huge diaper to represent the beginning of the New Year. But after the kids were mostly grown they decided to pull up stakes, and move back to country living in Auburn, CA where they lived for 28 years. They became immersed in activities in the community and with friends, with Dave's gregariousness again coming into play. One of Dave's favorite activities was volunteering at the Sacramento Dixieland Jazz festival. Every year he would spend 4 - 5 days helping out. But it wasn't work for him, as he loved this type of music, and many different types of music from his era. He had a vast collection of records and a great sound system, with Louis Armstrong and Glen Miller among his favorites. Although he couldn’t play an instrument, he did a great imitation of Louie Armstrong’s unique style of singing. One nexus of his pranksterism and his love of "music" was when he would face his gigantic speakers outside and play full blast a sound effects record of airplanes through the neighborhood bringing the neighbors out wondering what the heck is going on. Today, he might of been arrested for doing this! Another of his many abilities was as a handyman. He could build almost anything with wood, electrical or plumbing. One of our favorites that combined a couple of these mediums was a Christmas decoration where he made a Christmas tree, ornate with lights and meaningful family trinkets collected over the years. Ingenious! He loved all animals, especially dogs. We always had a dog growing up, and eventually a cat, too. He even had pet cockatoo birds for a while until we figured Mom was probably allergic to them. After that, he fed the hummingbirds to keep them coming around. Because the dogs were relegated to the outdoors due to allergies, he would put his ingenuity to work to devise all sorts of dog innovations - doors, heating lamps, various types of houses, etc., to make the dog’s life more comfortable. Animals always made him light up, even to the very end. With most of their children and grandchildren beckoning them to the Bay Area, and age becoming an issue, Dave reluctantly gave up his idyllic country life in Auburn for the hustle and bustle of Pleasanton, CA. Mary was thrilled to be close to family and Dad enjoyed seeing more of us, too. It was great to have them close by for those 4 years, but Dave's mental health continued to deteriorate, and worsened after Mom's death in 2013. He lived the last few years of his life in assisted living facilities, and we are grateful to the staffs there and Kaiser for taking good care of him during his final years. Dave was service-oriented throughout his life and was active in many business, civic, and religious groups in Fremont and Auburn. In addition to church organizations, he also served as a member of the Independent Insurances Agents, the Elks Club, Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, to name a few. He also belonged to several Portuguese fraternal organizations. He was always dedicated to serving his community. Besides his wife, he was proceeded in death by his brother Joe and sister Angie Lewis of Los Banos. He is survived by his sister, Corrine, of Merced and his children, Ron (Liz), of Newark; Larry (Nancy), of Pleasanton; Steve (Kaysee), of Franklin, Tenn.: and Tricia, of Moraga. He is also survived by nine grandchildren: Chelsea, Maddie(Tony), Joey, Andrew, Janet, Zak, Megan, Michael and Jon, and by one great-grandchild, Miles McCan. He touched many lives with his humor and friendship; it was a wonderful life.. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to a program that helps homeless pregnant women www.homelessprenatal.org . Thank you.

David Phillip Brazil

May 27, 1925 - June 23, 2017