Obituary of David Gerald Wagner

Private graveside services will be held Monday, April 27th for David G. Wagner who passed away on April 9th after a short illness. He was 57 years old. David was born at the old Dominican Hospital on August 10, 1962 to Phyllis and Gary Wagner, he was a 4th generation Santa Cruzan. He attended Green Acres Elementary, Del Mar Middle School, Soquel High and Cabrillo College. One of David’s first jobs, at age 11, was a delivery boy for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. He also worked for a time at Pleasure Point Lumber Company. He was a heavy equipment operator and supervisor for Santa Cruz County Public Works for a number of years until an injury forced him off the job. David liked helping other people-if you had a problem or a need he was their to help. In the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake he worked constantly for days on end, helping those in need, only stopping for a few hours each day to shower and get something to eat. For days David slept in his truck so that he could help others on a moment’s notice. He told his family “I can’t come home yet, there’s too much to do and too many people to help for me to come home.” David loved sports, he played them all his youth and when he got older he played softball after work. He loved the Oakland Raiders and Oakland A’s and attended as many games each season as possible. In the winter he’d go skiing at Lake Tahoe, in the summer he’d be camping and fishing. He looked forward every year to an annual trip with family and friends to Eagle Lake. David is survived by his mother; Phyllis Wagner; sister & brother in law, Diana & Rick Steineke; step mother, Sheryl Wagner; aunt, Ann Wagner; uncle, Al Wagner; great uncle, Willard “Bill” Roberts; niece Jacquelyn Ibanez, her husband, Fernando, children, Aria and Mateo; niece Alexandra Wagner and children, Lavinia and Corbin; best friends, Donald Ward & John Cain; cousins, Jeff, Heidi, Christopher and Michael Wagner; his dear lady friend Paola Callis; “shirt tail relatives” Lawne Hunter & Patrick Williams and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. David is pre-deceased by his father, Gary Wagner; sister, Joann Wagner; brother, Gregg Wagner and grandparents, Jack & Marjorie Nicol and Albert & Anna Wagner; and his “second Mom”, Kathy King Hughes. In lieu of flowers please donate to David’s favorite two charities: Shriners Children’s Hospital at www.loveshriners.org or Saint Jude Research Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, Tennessee 38101. A Celebration of David’s Life will be held later when the coronavirus pandemic allows for a gathering of his family and friends.