David Lee Cantrill

It is with great sadness that David Lee Cantrill, beloved husband, son, father, grandfather and great grandfather, passed away on February 27th, 2025, at age 71 with family and friends by his side. David passed away from a cardiac arrest.

As many of you know, Dave had been ill for several years due to a food item that gave him E-coli and Shiga Toxin which almost ended his life at the onset. He endured 3 long hospitalizations and 3 nursing home stays as he became frailer and more unable to walk over time or care for himself safely over time. Dave was very mentally strong and his will to live was remarkable for as long as he could endure.

We are grateful that he is at peace now and no longer in pain. His family will miss him greatly as will many of his friends and acquaintances across the country and abroad.

David was born to John Cantrill and Jeannette Gasitis on April 6th, 1953, in Roswell, New Mexico prematurely weighing 2 lbs. 2ozs. To have survived at that weight back then was nothing short of a miracle. He was born at a Catholic hospital, and the nuns would carry him around in the sleeves of their habits. This hospital was one of the only hospitals in New Mexico to have a perambulator (early Incubator) which was a miracle for the time.

David had 3 brothers, Tommy, who passed away as a baby, Steven (Joylyn) and James (Beth) and one son Christian (Suzanne), 5 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren, and in- laws of Marge, Russ Sr, Russ Jr, Elaine, Aaron and Russell III.

David attended Catholic elementary school at St Louise and then Tillicum Junior High and graduated from Sammamish High School in 1971. After high school David married and had one son, Christian. Unfortunately, the marriage ended in divorce.

David met his second wife Debbie Bragg in 1966 in the 8th grade at dance class when Debbie moved to Bellevue from California. They were friends through Junior High and High school and lost track after graduation until meeting up again in 1977 at which time they became romantically involved. David and Debbie were married at Robinswood House in Bellevue, WA on St Patrick’s day March 17th, 1984, and had a long and happy marriage of 41 yrs until David passed away. For most of their married years they would return to Robinswood Park on their anniversary to reminisce about their wedding day.

David and Debbie had many happy memories with Christian’s visits throughout the years they enjoyed camping trips to Icicle Creek, attending Mariners games, trips to Hood Canal, going to the movies, fishing, attending air shows, hydroplane races, blue angels, shopping, playing games and going out to eat.

Through the years, Christian was very active in sports, had a very strong military career in the Air Force, met and married a beautiful British girl Suzanne and then was busy with a large family to raise. David and Debbie could not be more proud of Christian and his family.

David had many interests and skills. He was a published rock photographer, attended many concerts, met many artists, and shared his photos, making many friends and business associates along the way. He also shared his love of music with many, and one such dear friend was Kurt Ahrensfeld. They went to many concerts together sharing their love and appreciation of the bands they admired.

David was a World War II buff having had his father and father-in-law in the war. He loved fireworks, science, rockets, space, collecting coins, fishing and keeping up with his family.

David worked as a photo processor where he met the man who would save his life from alcoholism. His boss Tom Oakley was a very kind and amazing man. Dave was able to Gain 32 years of sobriety from alcohol and we were both incredibly grateful to Tom for his kindness and support. When David became sober having gone through treatment and seriously working his program, he started with service work first making coffee at his home group meetings. David did not drink coffee and made coffee that was more like rocket fuel. Bless him, he tried. He had several other service jobs along the way. He then took a very strong interest in AA history and archives.

David had a deep love of archeology especially about Egypt and studied it since a teen. He later joined a group in Seattle and was able to meet several prominent archaeologists. He enjoyed learning and sharing stories with them through the years. He became the Western Washington AA archivist and then created and assembled a very awesome District 38 archives which he showed at many different functions. He was well respected for his work, his amazing knowledge and memory and his willingness to share his passion for the history of AA to anyone that was interested.

David also became a conservationist of historical materials of AA. He went around the country hosting workshops for archivists wishing to learn the preservation process of materials. He did this until he was no longer able to travel. He had many phone consultations on restoration and preservation of materials and many people would send their artifacts to David for advice and to have him restore and preserve items such as books, papers, etc. He was also able to restore other materials for people such as family bibles, precious books, and papers as well. David loved what he did, he had an amazing mind for details and loved to enlighten and share his knowledge with others whenever possible.

David loved history in so many capacities and another area he loved was the history of Kirkland. He joined the Heritage Society and became their archivist for several years. He was instrumental in locating relatives and family members of Peter Kirk, founder of Kirkland. He found several of Peter Kirk’s family members and they were thrilled about the interest in their family’s history and donated many fabulous family heirlooms to the Kirkland Heritage Society as a result.

David loved good food. He and Debbie would go to Café Juanita each year for their wedding anniversary and truly enjoyed celebrating their special day. On other days he enjoyed a good hamburger, a taco, a corndog, a cheese sandwich and tomato soup, these made him happy. He also loved pop! Lots of it. Dave was a member of the J.P. Patches “Clean Plate Club” was also fond of Ivar Hagland and Stan Boreson.

David had a great sense of humor and at the same time he could be pretty stubborn. He loved watching funny movies/shows with dear friends and laughing the night away. Some favorites were Monte Python, Benny Hill, Old SNL, The Three Stooges, The Pink Panther, The Money Pitt, Bubba HoTep, Dr. Strangelove, The Party, Faulty Towers, A fish Called Wanda, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles to name just a few. David also loved many sci fi movies/shows and horror movies/shows, especially Steven King’s movies.

David loved the 4th of July, rockets, fireworks and all things that go boom.

We are holding a:

Celebration of David’s Life for David on:

Thursday, July 3rd at 2:00pm at

Robinswood House in Robinswood Park

2430 -148th Avenue SE, Bellevue WA 98007

Refreshments to follow at Robinswood House.

***Please note that there are no fireworks allowed at this event or in the park***

We would love for you to wear something tie-dyed or something blue as he was nicknames “The Tie-Dye Guy.” He was loved by many for his colorful shirts. He also loved the color blue.

“David, God Speed to you my dear husband and friend. Until we meet again my love.”

In lieu of flowers please donate in David's honor to our favorite non-profit organization:

Cougar Mountain Zoo

Attn: Jarod Munzer, Director

19525 SE 54th Street

Issaquah, WA 98027