David Jayden Flores-Santamaria

David Jayden Flores-Santamaria was born on June 17, 2002 at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, California. He is the son of Gloria Flores-Santamaria and Manuel Flores-Santamaria. David was raised in Fresno, California and Houston, Texas.

David graduated from Heaton Elementary School in 2015. He was a very good student, and did well in school. His favorite class was Social Studies. The teacher he enjoyed learning from the most was Mrs. Venturi. David's most memorable achievements in school included receiving a Citizenship Award, he was on the Merit List and Honor Roll as well as having received a Student of the Month award.

David was very outgoing yet very sensitive and didn’t like conflict. David was easy to know and throughout his life he made many, many friends. While growing up, some of his best friends were Mia Flores, Chelo Flores, Oscar Quiroz and when he was a bit older he became friends with Matthew Leal.

Although his dream in life was to be a video game designer/programmer, David would often go to work with Amaha (his grandmother) where he worked on “sales skills” by helping customers in the store.

David was a bundle of energy and derived much satisfaction from participating in and watching sports. Any sport you can think of David could play or master and he enjoyed watching his favorite events whenever he got the opportunity. Tops on his list were football, basketball, boxing and soccer. He was a member of South East Boxing Club, Clovis East Youth Football and Flight Club Basketball Academy. In his spare time he liked playing FIFA with his dad, dancing, playing catch and enjoyed fishing. Although he lived a short life, David played organized sports, football, flag-football, soccer and basketball.

His favorite hobbies were video games. He enjoyed playing his X-Box and competing against his peers in Clash of Clans, Call of Duty, and Halo. He was the Halo Champion 2008 and became the Co-leader of his clan in “Clash of Clans”.

David was compassionate and seemed to be the person smack dab in the middle of things help to get things done. As a member of Celebration Church he participated in the church’s annual Easter Celebration. Although David was young, he was involved in the community and enjoyed most helping with food donations for the homeless. He also loved help prepare for his neighborhood 4th of July celebration.

David, for only being 13 years old, was well traveled. Some of his favorite travel experiences included vacations at Sea World in San Antonio, Texas; going to Tijuana, Mexico with Amaha (grandma) and Nico. He got to go to Disneyland (twice) the first time for his 5th Birthday with Justine Wood and again in 2014 with Tia Car, Papa and Nana. Another great vacation was a trip to Las Vegas when he was four years old and again when he was 12 years old, for his parents wedding, now not a lot of children experience that! Lake Charles, Louisiana was another exciting experience and he spent his 13th birthday at Venice Beach and Santa Monica.

David was a lover of animals and cherished his pets. Sharkboy Flores-Santamaria, a Chihuahua mix who he had for 9 years, Big Django, a German shepherd, and Bruce and Lola. His family was rounded out by his fish and one crab, who he named Little David.

David passed away on Saturday, June 27, 2015 at Bass Lake, California. He was enjoying a beautiful summer day on the lake he loved so much when his life was taken in a tragic boating accident. He is survived by his loving parents, Gloria and Manuel, his brother Manuel Antonio, his sister Julia, his grandmother Concepcion, his cousin Mia and his uncle Jose. Services were held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. David was laid to rest in Belmont Memorial Park in Fresno, California.