Grady Dustine Gopez

Grady Dustine Gopez was born on July 29, 1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He entered our world as a premature baby. He was born two months early at 3.3 pounds and spent 57 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). He was iron-willed and a fighter from the beginning.

He was a man with many nicknames – Tarzan, Kuya, Honey, Boss, Spartan, and Dad. Each of these names plays a significant role in describing his life and the qualities of one of our world’s best individuals.

Grady spent his early childhood years in Las Vegas raised by his parents, Alfredo and Norma Macaspac. Grady was a high-spirited and high-energy child. With such a rambunctious personality and yearn to climb, swing, and jump off everything in sight, he was appropriately named “Tarzan” by his godfather, Fernando Guiao, Jr. The name describes his playfulness and brave heart.

“Kuya” (meaning “older brother” and a name used to show respect in Filipino culture) was a nickname used by his siblings Crystal and Alfred. Kuya naturally encompassed many of the characteristics one would believe an older brother would have – he was a mentor, role model, and the perfect example of excellence. He always protected his siblings, provided advice to conquer life’s obstacles, and raised the bar to define “success.” In fact in 1996, Kuya graduated from Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego, California, as Valedictorian.

Upon graduating from high school and beginning his college education at San Diego State University (SDSU), he met the love of his life – Cecille Sarayba Gopez. Cecille and Grady were both working at Mervyn’s. He was completely smitten with her. As they began dating she referred to him as “Honey.” It is the ideal name to describe his sweet and loving personality. “Honey” was a name that Cecille’s entire family adopted. During this time, Grady graduated from SDSU with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology in 2001. After nine years of dating, Honey and Cecille were married on September 3, 2005 in San Diego. They recently celebrated their ten-year anniversary in their honeymoon city of Honolulu, Hawaii.

In 2006, Grady began his career with Target as a Regional Investigations Analyst. With his hard work and commitment to the company, he gained his most recent position - Investigations Center Team Leader. In this position, Grady is often referred to as “Boss.” Boss was always a team player, peer everyone admired, and a natural born leader. In 2013, Target offered him the opportunity to move to the Dallas, Texas region. Whenever presented with a life-altering decision, Boss based his decisions on the three F’s – faith, family, and finances. Clearly, this opportunity fit the criteria of the three F’s, so the Gopez family moved to Frisco, Texas (a suburb of Dallas). Frisco quickly and perfectly fulfilled their definition of “home.” This year commemorates his ten-year anniversary with Target.

Grady was always very goal-oriented. In 2015, he set goals to complete the Spartan Trifecta. To complete the Trifecta, Grady participated in three races within the year – (1) Sprint (3-5 miles, 20-23 obstacles), (2) Super (8-10 miles, 24-29 obstacles), and (3) Beast (12-14 miles, 30-35 obstacles). In addition to completing the Trifecta, he joined a CrossFit gym – FTX & First Street CrossFit. With his commitment to live a healthy and active life and undeniable strength, we referred to Grady as our “Spartan.”

Without a doubt, the nicknames Tarzan, Kuya, Honey, Boss, and Spartan are impressive, but none can hold a candle to his most important nickname – Dad. Grady has two children – Ethan Ace (born in 2006) and Grace Noelle (born in 2013). With his strong faith, brave heart, role model qualities, loving persona, leadership skills, and active lifestyle, Grady encompasses all the attributes of a perfect Dad. He did nothing less than provide Ethan and Grace with unconditional love, support, patience, and a flawless upbringing. The children are the perfect combination of their parents’ strongest attributes and their love for one another.

With all this said, Grady Dustine Gopez is truly one of the world’s best and is now one of heaven’s finest angels. He ascended to heaven on the afternoon of May 2, 2016, at the age of 37 in Dallas, Texas. To celebrate the life of this decorated individual, there will be visitation services at the Stonebriar Funeral Home on May 14th and 15th from 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Mass will be held in the Chapel at the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church on May 16th at 11:00 am. Interment will follow at the Ridgeview Memorial Park West Cemetery. We will continue to celebrate his life with a reception at the St. Francis of Assisi‘s Great Hall.