David Malcolm Porta, born in Manhattan, New York, June 19th 1954, passed away at the age of 67 on December 18, 2021. Dave grew up in Tappan, NY, but had been a resident of Sacramento, California since the early 1980’s. He died at The Sherwood Healthcare Center in Sacramento after being hospitalized at Mercy Hospital for sepsis.
His parents, Vincent A. Porta, born in Brockton Massachusetts, and Barbara A. Gill Porta, (later, Hutchinson) born in Manhattan, NY are both deceased.
David and his older sister, Siena, moved with their parents from Manhattan’s upper West side in 1957 to the hamlet of Tappan, a NYC suburb, because their neighborhood was being dismantled to build The Lincoln Center Theater Complex.
It was while attending public primary school that David’s lifelong passion with the world of graphic novels and comics; the creators, artists and writers, began. At 14 he entered the Windsor Mountain School in Lenox Massachusetts, an international and progressive boarding school where he made many lifelong friendships. For a semester he studied abroad in Belgium as he was fluent in French. After receiving his BA from SUNY Brockport and an MA in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic University, where he taught undergraduate courses, he continued at Virginia Tech studying Philosophy in the doctoral program.
David moved to California in the early 1980’s, working at the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles. It was there that the trajectory of his life changed and he experienced a profound religious conversion. Eventually settling in the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento, David became a member Our Savior Lutheran Church.
He maintained a very active involvement in the L.A. Comic -Con (convention) among others. Dave has contributed many scholarly articles, written and edited letters and reviews for both paper and virtual platforms (Amazon, Wiki) regarding the world of American comics and graphic novels, often focusing on the intersection of Christian belief and religion in the comic industry. David was in the process of completing a monograph on Gaylord M. Dubois (American writer and “comic book king”, creator of Tarzan) and most recently had contributed a forward to a book on Dubois. He also loved dogs, always adopting rescue dogs, though in his last years was not well enough to care for one.
David was predeceased by his father Vincent A. Porta in 1986 and his mother, Barbara Porta Hutchinson in 2019. He is survived by his sister, Siena Gillan Porta and her husband, Robert Christopher Dell, of Tappan, New York, their son, Malcolm Vincent Dell, resident of Brooklyn, New York, his maternal Aunt, Elinor Gill Vandergriff of Medina, Texas and many first cousins.
Arrangements are being made by The Funeral Home; Nicoletti, Cujis and Herberger at 5401 Folsom Boulevard, Sacramento CA. Contact them at www.dignitymemorial.com or # 916-456-7284 To share memories, letters of sympathy and remembrance of David: www.nicoletticljisherbergerfunerals.com
A separate memorial and celebration of David’s life is being planned for the summer of 2022, both virtual and in person in Tappan, New York. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association.
Romans 12.3-8, Humble Service in the Body of Christ
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
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