David William Trutalli passed away peacefully with his family by his side on Christmas night, December 25, 2022 at Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital following complications from a heart ablation procedure he had done on his birthday five days earlier. He said the night before the procedure that this would be a very special birthday for him because everyone in the hospital confirms your identity on the day of surgery by your date of birth, so and he would be getting happy birthday wishes from everyone all day long!
David was born on December 20,1943 at General Hospital in Eureka and was on raised on his parents dairy on Sage Rd in Ferndale. In fact, he never lived more than five miles away from the Trutalli homestead as a life-long resident of Ferndale. He attended Grant Union School and as a youth he enjoyed showing guernsey cattle with FFA and running around playing with his friends Larry and Alvin and the Sage Road crowd. He loved sports, but as the son of a hard working dairy man there was no time to play organized sports when there was work to do on the dairy. Thus, the only record of his athletic prowess was when he tied Larry Miranda in the boys 6-8 year old race at the Dairyman’s Picnic. He also enjoyed being a good little brother by playing the part of flower-girl when his sister Loretta and her friend Linda Nunes would play “pretend wedding”. That prepared him for his acting career in school programs such as his role as a teddy bear in 1952’s “When Santa Comes to Town” and his starring role as the off-stage voice in 1954’s “The Shoemaker’s Guest”. I’m sure he would say the only reason he was the off-stage voice was because he didn’t want his good looks to upstage everyone else in the play. Ironically, at that same school Christmas program he participated in a choral recitation of the poem “On December Twenty-fifth.” Little did eleven year old David know about the foreshadowing that day and the gravity of what would transpire 68 years later “on December 25th.”
David learned early on in life growing up on the dairy about the meaning of an honest days work, paying attention to detail, and being dedicated. After all, cows don’t go on vacation and child labor laws don’t apply when your employer is your father. He also learned about accountability and following the rules. He was once suspended from school for a day (no, it wasn’t a felony) and instead of getting mad at him, his dad Willy wrung his hands smiling saying “that’s great, there’s lots of work do.” After he completed his sentence of hard labor he vowed to never break the rules and miss school again.
David worked as a dairyman until the age of 30 when he decided to pave his own path in life and leave the family business to start David Trutalli Gravel trucking company. And pave it he did, with river rock or even better was the hill gravel that had the clay in it and compacted down so nicely for the roads and lanes for the dairymen. He brought his hard work ethic, accountability and attention to detail to his own business which also allowed him to do what he enjoyed doing, which was helping people. He knew what it was like working on the dairy, so when someone needed a load of gravel in front of the watering troughs or a lane re-coated in gravel before the storm arrived he would make sure the job got done, and it was always done well. You should of seen him spread a load of gravel on a lane. It was perfectly placed, just the right depth and even the entire way. You wouldn’t believe he “dumped” it that way straight out of the truck unless you saw him do it yourself. He was a perfectionist and never cut corners, right down to washing the truck after each and every day no matter how tired he was. I remember when he sold his first dump truck. A friend called me to ask if David was okay or if he sold his truck because he saw it driving in town and it was all dirty, so they knew either something was wrong or he didn’t own it anymore. David loved what he did for a living, and didn’t know if he could retire because he felt it was his work that kept him going. After all, he was always his best employee. That is until Dale came around and became his best employee and allowed David to transition into retirement, albeit for only one year.
But life wasn’t all work and no play. He loved watching his Warriors and Cowboys, flying to SF Giants games with Jim Smith in his Cessna, and the times he felt like a celebrity sitting near courtside watching the Sacramento Kings play thanks to tickets he got from Frank Leonardo. He loved riding his motorcycles and took care of them like his children, even storing them in a humidity controlled bubble and polished to mint condition. Thankfully he got a chance to live out a dream ride when he rode to Sturgis with his friends Dennis, Corey and Mark. However, there was one dream he had that wasn’t fulfilled He fell in love with flying and wanted to get his pilots license. He started taking lessons and shortly there after found out he would never be able to pass the flight physical due to his past health issues and surgeries and stopped his lessons. I would joke with him that he went to Al-Quida flight school because he was trained on how to take off but never learned how to land.
David was witty, smart, thoughtful, compassionate and just an all around great guy. If you knew David, then you knew it would be hard to find a better friend. A friend that would go out of his way to help, to be there in times of need, a friend for life. He would drive hours to visit a friend in the hospital out of town like Blackie or Craig Jacobs. When he would drive to southern California to visit his son he would plan to visit special friends that had moved away. He shared how much it meant to him to visit with Walt Jacobs not long ago and just recently with Jerry Gonsalves. He would volunteer his time and efforts when someone was in need like the time he helped a grieving friend retrieve his sons car that went over the Centerville bluff after a tragic fatal accident. And when the government started issuing stimulus checks he gave his away to someone he knew was in need. He would help someone that he knew was in financial need, without them asking for help and not for recognition. It was anonymous and because he truly cared.
But most of all, David loved his family. When he found out he still had living relatives in Italy he and his sister set up a family trip to go meet them. He was even able to track down the sausage he enjoyed making with his friends over the years when it was served for breakfast at the hotel in Sondrio and it tasted just like home. He shared how special it was to get to spend more time with his sister Loretta recently as life started to slow down for him. He always looked forward to seeing his nieces, nephew and cousins. He was a great Dad, a proud grandfather and a caring husband. He was a role model for all of us on how to live your life the right way without regrets.
He is survived by his wife Sandy Trutalli; his sister Loretta Alexandre; his son Darin Trutalli and grandchildren Natalie and James Trutalli ; stepchildren Randi Cacciola and her husband Ray and Jerilyn Rotherham; step grandaughter Tia Fereira, husband Larry and children Paiden, Cooper and Weston, and step grandson Tyler Rotherham; his aunt Elaine Lopes; a nephew and his wife Blake and Stephanie Alexandre; nieces Renae Alameda and Kristina Saltekoff and her husband Will; cousins Robert (Diana), Leo, Bonita, Debra and Linda; great-nephews Joseph Alexandre and his wife Alexa and baby Brylynn, Christian Alexandre and his wife Callie with children Canaan and Callahan, Dalton Alexandre, and Justin Lewis; great-nieces Makenzie Alameda, Vanessa Nunes and her husband Justin and baby Jora, and Savanna Alexandre; and his first wife and mother of his child Shaaron Cardoza.
David was preceded in death by his parents William Trutalli and Mary Silveira; uncles Aldo Trutalli and Manuel Soares Jr.; aunts Gena Angellini and her husband Ezio, Rose Sepulveda and her husband Carl, and Sarafina Soares; cousin Carol Jackson; brother-in-law “Papa Joe” Alexandre; and great-nephews Jace and Hunter Alameda.
Friends are invited to attend visitation at Gobles Fortuna Mortuary on Friday January 6, 2022 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friends are also invited to attend a memorial service at the Assumption Catholic Church in Ferndale on Saturday January 7, 2022 at 12 p.m. Father Mario Laguros will be the celebrant. A celebration of life will be held immediately following the service at the Church hall.
Interment will be at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Ferndale. Casket bearers will be Darin Trutalli, James Trutalli, Blake Alexandre, Joseph Alexandre, Christian Alexandre and Dalton Alexandre. Honorary bearers will be Ray Cacciola, Tyler Rotherham, Glen Martela, Dale Dunn, Darrel Polasek, Jerry Gonsalves, Steven Booth, Dennis DelBiaggio and Leland Rock.
Arrangements are under the direction of Gobles Fortuna Mortuary.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Ferndale Volunteer Fire Department or a favorite charity. However, memorial contributions of salami may be made to his son, Darin!
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