Obituary of David Marquis Pereira

David Marquis Pereira died unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism on May 13, 2020 at his Santa Cruz, California home. He was born June 25, 1969 and spent his formative years primarily in Sunnyvale interspersed with living in Greece, Guatemala, England and Hawaii with his educator parents. David spent his Junior year in Zaragoza, Spain as an exchange student. He graduated from Homestead High School in 1987. He then lived in Aptos where he attended both UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College. For many years David lived in San Ramon where he drove for UPS. While in the East Bay he earned an AA degree from Diablo Valley College. David's was challenged by a lifelong struggle with a bipolar disorder. Despite his mental health challenges, his approach to life was for the most part upbeat and positive. He was prone to an easy smile and a kind demeanor. One of David's great passions was daily bicycling. He liked to take selfies of his frequent excursions around the greater Bay area.  He especially enjoyed the cycling trip from Pacifica to San Luis Obispo, along Highway One, that he took with his friend Peter. David’s other great love was music of all genres; his collection was vast and his knowledge broad and deep, plus he played acoustic and electric guitars. He was a great fan of public libraries; he read widely and was purveyor of minutiae. His green thumb was apparent wherever he lived as he always had a garden. He readily cooked and shared the fruits of his labor.

 David returned to Santa Cruz just over two years ago and enjoyed attending classes at Cabrillo College. His friendship to others was undaunted as he touched many lives in the Santa Cruz community. He will be sorely missed. In December of 2019 David finally moved into a permanent house and was receiving training from California State Rehabilitation. These two factors brought about great change in David's behavior. He finally had a place of his own and was settling down. For this his family is most grateful. He is survived by his mother, Mary Maselli, Aptos, father, Nelson Pereira, Santa Rosa, brother Dolin Pereira and wife Anne Riddell as well as his nephew Sebastian Pereira and niece Isabelle Pereira, San Jose. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations be sent to NAMI Santa Cruz County ‘Peer to Peer’ www.namiscc.org, Hospice of Santa Cruz County ‘Music Therapy www.hospicesantacruz.org or GoodKarmaBikes.org, a San Jose non-profit. A celebration of life will be held at a future date.