On Thursday, August 19, 2021, David Allen Bellairs passed away at the age of 61. Dave was born on Flag Day, June 14, 1960 in El Cajon, California to Donald and Gwendolyn Bellairs. He graduated from Granite Hills High School. Dave entered the workforce, first joining the family clock repair business at the most aptly named shop: Time Machines. He married his high school sweetheart, Tresa, and soon after decided to follow his older brother’s path and joined the United States Coast Guard.

Serving as a machinist, he rose through the ranks and gathered countless experiences under his belt: leading small-boat crews to repair buoys, developing a passionate expertise on Pacific coast lighthouses through their arduous repair, and was a crewmember aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Sherman, which was the first Coast Guard ship to circumnavigate the globe. During that historic voyage around the world, he saw wonders in Singapore, Seychelles, Madagascar and Barbados; he even made the front page of the Johannesburg, South Africa newspaper by scaling the side of a critically damaged oil tanker, repairing the generator, and averting a costly disaster. The intent of this mission was to support peacekeeping operations in the Persian Gulf in cooperation with the US Navy; Dave always remarked how ridiculous it was to be sailing around a warzone alongside tactically camouflaged Navy vessels, while his own ship was painted bright white with a red stripe on the front and a red helicopter on the back!

Dave served his nation honorably for 20 years, finally retiring in 2001 achieving the rank of Chief Warrant Officer II. During his career, he and Tresa were also blessed with the birth of his two sons, Alexander in 1991 and William in 1997. Retirement from the Coast Guard allowed Dave to be more present in his family’s life, a time treasured by all. It also allowed Dave the chance to delve into his mechanical passions with his brother, restoring hit-and-miss engines, drag saws, farm tractors, and all sorts of machinery essential to early 20th century households in the country. He became a staple of the Fortuna Auto Expo, camping out at Rohner Park, joining the cacophony of engines, always striving to display what the engines would be used for in real life: cutting wood, pumping water, crushing soda cans… (that last one was a bit of a fun construction they made).

Dave got back to work after a few years, picking up the clock repair profession he had started earlier in life. First taking work out of home, he soon began working closely with Bartow’s Jewelers in Fortuna for several years, before opening his own shop in Old Town Eureka, naming it Time Machines in honor of his parents’ business, where his motto was “If your clock won’t tic, talk to Dave!” Dave was able to get this business opened and settled into his next stage of life alongside his second wife, Kathy. Dave loved this work, because it was more than just fixing broken pieces of machinery. Clocks hold so much history. He fixed “the clock that sat on my grandma’s mantle for 50 years” and “my dad’s pocket watch, the only thing I have left of him.”

So much of Dave’s life revolved around loving others. From self-sacrificing service in the Coast Guard, to dedicated fatherhood, to keeping people connected to some of the most important treasures in their lives.

Dave is survived by his wife Kathy, his sons Alexander and William, his step-daughter Nathalee, and his step-son Nate.

His memorial service will be held on September 1st at Ocean View Cemetery at 2 p.m. There will be a viewing at Paul’s Chapel in Arcata on the 30th of September from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Funeral arrangements made by Paul’s Chapel in Arcata.

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