Obituary of David Louis Pini

David Louis Pini was born on August 4th 1952 at the Santa Cruz Hospital to Beverly and Louis Pini. He had over 45 years of experience and was known for his legendary skills operating tractors and heavy machinery. Dave was a logger for Scarborough Lumber and Roy Pini and an operating engineer for Olive Springs Quarry and Granite Construction and Rock. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam with two of his closest friends Donny Sacamoto and Frank Sloan. Dave learned a love and appreciation of life and nature through his experiences fishing and hunting with his dad and his brother Jim. He preferred the feeling of dirt and pine needles in his toes than the formality of shoes or the indoors. Dave connected to God through his love of nature. He taught his kids, Niki, Joey, and Kim his respect of nature and love of animals throughout his life and on many camping trips. He enjoyed scaring people with rubber spiders, snakes, and thrill rides on tractors and off-road vehicles. Dave routinely surprised old timers by bringing back to life their old barn abandoned caterpillars in an afternoon's work. Those of us who knew him well will say that above all he was a great, selfless man. He was a dog's best friend, and cared for each of his dogs as beloved family members. Something about Dave none of us will ever forget is his smile, his ability to tell a great story and his laugh, a laugh that no one could possibly describe. The best thing about his laugh was how easy it was for him to encourage himself and others to laugh even harder. We simply had to join in on the laughter, even if we didn't get the joke. Above anything else he accomplished, he was a superhero to his kids and so many extended family members. Dad was always ready to help when someone needed it, to take on stray animals; he was that person everyone went to. He was the absolute best father and friend, and someone with too much character to describe in writing. Dave passed away May 7th 2012 on a tractor job on Little Creek Road in Soquel. His family members know that he was doing what he loved and he had talked excitedly about that job. He was always very passionately driven to provide and to work outside, shaping the earth and her resources respectfully. He is remembered by his three children, Niki, Joey, and Kim Pini, his brother Jim Pini and sister-in-law Kathy Pini, the mother of his children Cathy Prevost, his extended family Winnie and the Prevost crew, his dogs Betsy and Babe, and his grand puppies Buster, Dottie, and Rocko, and his many dear friends. Please come and share stories and celebrate Dave with us on Saturday May 19th at 1pm at the Corralitos Community Center on 33 Browns Valley Rd. Corralitos, CA. 95076. In lieu of flowers please donate to the charity of your choice.