David Rea was born December 15, 1948 and passed away on April 10, 2015. He was preceded in death by his father, John Stewart Rea and his brother, Jim Rea. He is survived by his mother, Carol Rea; sister-in-law, Marilyn Rea: sister, Nancy (Niki) and brother-in-law Jim Kuchera; along with many long-time friends who considered him family, including Michael and Marna Powell; Darren and Teena Cooper: Mary Solotoff and Jessica Oliver.

David lived all over the country and also in Europe, spending 10 years in Switzerland. His last years were spent living in Orick, where many people remember seeing him on the bridge in the rain doing water sampling for Redwood National Park. Those who knew him well agree that his time in Orick were the happiest years of his life. He was surrounded by good friends, natural beauty and lots of dogs. During his life he held many interests and achieved several certifications including, massage therapy, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.

Most people remember him as a bartender. In the 1980’s David was locally famous, along with Darren Cooper, for tossing bottles and glassware back and forth at Old Town Bar & Grill. It is still believed that ”Cocktail” copied all their moves. The saying was that “Darren took care of the jar and David took care of the till.” David also set up the original bar at Woodley Island Marina and again when it expanded across the back window to its present form.

Michael Powell describes our friend as “Having an uncanny ability to understand people who at that moment needed to be understood.” David thought outside the box. In problem-solving he could come up with really creative solutions or weird experiments. Marna says, “He was perhaps, one of the oddest people I’ve ever known, and I say that fondly. I loved him dearly.” Darren quotes a song from the Moody Blues, one of David’s favorite bands, “Cold-hearted orb that rules the night, Removes the colours from our sight. Red is grey and yellow white. But we decide which is right. And which is an illusion???” Darren then adds, “The world is a little less bright knowing he is not around any more.”

He had a gentle nature and graceful presence. He loved to read, garden, work with wood, beachcomb, watch movies, hike in the redwoods, go to rivers, create bad puns, debate ideas, think creatively. He was a loyal friend and reliable dog sitter. David loved animals very much. Our dogs miss him terribly.

At David’s request there will be no services. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Emergency Medical Fund for our local shelter animals at: Friends for Life P.O. Box 962, Eureka, CA 95502; in person at Humboldt County Sheriff’s Animal Control 980 Lycoming Ave, McKinleyville, CA 95519: online at: www.dogrescuers.org. Be sure to write “EMF” in the memo or fund designation.

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The above obituary was submitted by David Rea’s friends. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.