Funeral Service
Obituary of David Gastelum Ramirez
On February 23, 2019 at 12:19am, surrounded by his loving family, our father David G. Ramirez passed peacefully into eternal rest. Dad was born on November 25, 1931, in Zamora, Michoacán, Mexico, to Catarino and Juanita Ramirez.
He is survived by children David G. (Cheryl) Ramirez, Jr., Katrina (Galen) Steward, Dena Ramirez, Tamarah (Cam) Knight; step-children Joyce (Jim) Stacy and Sherry Crawford, 17 Grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren; siblings Gabriela Barajas and George (Liz) Ramirez; sister-in-law Olivia Ramirez.
Dad is preceded in death by his wife Betty Ramirez, parents Catarino and Juanita Ramirez, sisters Raquel Ramirez and Edelmira Lozano, brother Jaime Ramirez, step-son Steve Crawford; brothers-in-law Henry Lozano and Joe Barajas.
Growing up in Mexico, Placentia and San Diego, CA, in 1952 he left school to enlist in the United States Army. He trained as a paratrooper in Fort Benning, Georgia, and moved to Fort Campbell, Kentucky to the 101st Airborne, where he earned the rank of Sargent. He was honorably discharged in 1957. He spent his career in the Outdoor Advertising Business as Crew Chief where he managed his team to build some of the most iconic signage in California: the reconstruction of the Hollywood sign on Mount Lee overlooking Hollywood, and the Marlboro Man billboard on Sunset and Marmont in Hollywood.
On July 23, 1954, he married the love of his life Betty Brown, with whom he had four children and three step-children. Mom and Dad made a wonderful life raising their children, travelling annually to Kentucky to visit family, and creating their screen-printing business. Nothing gave dad more pride than to gather his family and celebrate holidays with the 4th of July being his favorite. And nothing gave him more pleasure than to be around his grandchildren and great grandchildren. The solitude and beauty of working in his garden gave him much satisfaction, and he loved to show off his work and talk about his plants and roses.
Dad was the strongest and most loving man we ever knew. Even as he battled the effects of Parkinson he never gave up and urged us all to be strong, never give up and to always “show them how it’s done.”
Daddy you will be missed dearly by all and our grief is only lessened by knowing that you are watching over us and waiting for us to be together again.
Funeral services will be held in the Chapel at Oakwood Memorial Park, 22601 Lassen Street, Chatsworth, CA, on Friday, March, 1, 2019 at 10:00am.