DAVID JOSEPH REDDING, 75, OF COALDALE, WENT HOME TO HIS LORD ON JANUARY 3, 2025.
D.J., AS HE WAS KNOWN, WAS BORN ON OCTOBER 4, 1949, IN KINGSTON, PA. TO GERALD AND GIOVANNA (MATIUZZO) REDDING. HE WAS THE SECOND OF EIGHT CHILDREN RAISED BY HIS REMARKABLE MOTHER.
HE ENLISTED IN THE U.S ARMY AS A COMBAT MEDIC DURING THE VIETNAM WAR AND WAS HONORABLY DISCHARGED. HE PUT HIS MILITARY TRAINING “TO GOOD USE” AS HE WOULD SAY, AS AN EMERGENCY ROOM NURSE FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS.
HE WAS A COMPASSIONATE NURSE WHO TREATED EVERY PATIENT AS IF THEY WERE HIS OWN FATHER, MOTHER, SISTER OR BROTHER. HIS GREATEST CONCERN FOR THEM WAS ALWAYS THEIR SALVATION.
HE MET HIS WIFE THERESA (TERI) DeSANTOS, OF 42 YEARS, IN 1982 WHILE WORKING AT PROVIDENCE HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL IN MISSION HILLS, CALIFORNIA. THEY WOULD HAVE BREAKS TOGETHER AT 3 A.M. IN THE HOSPITAL’S CAFETERIA. THEY MARRIED NEW YEAR’S DAY 1983 ON A MOUNTAIN TOP IN LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA. SHORTLY THEREAFTER THEY MOVED TO COLORADO FOR A FRESH START.
TOGETHER THEY HAD THREE SONS, ELIJAH, JOSHUA AND JACOB WHOM THEY HOMESCHOOLED. D.J. WAS ALWAYS PROUD OF THE GODLY MEN THEY HAVE BECOME.
ALTHOUGH HE WAS DEVOTED TO HIS NURSING PROFESSION, HIS FIRST LOVE WAS ALWAYS MUSIC AND HE PLAYED SEVERAL INSTRUMENTS BY EAR. HE HAD VOLUMES OF WRITTEN SONGS AND POETRY.
D.J. AUTHORED HIS FIRST BOOK “ARE YOU REALLY A CHRISTIAN, OR JUST PLAYING CHURCH?”
BECAUSE OF HIS HEALTH ISSUES, AND WANTING TO SHARE HIS KNOWLEDGE WITH OTHERS THAT MAY BE STRUGGLING WITH THE SAME, HE WAS IN THE PROCESS OF WRITING HIS SECOND BOOK, “DO YOU HAVE WHAT I HAVE?”
D.J. IS SURVIVED BY HIS BELOVED WIFE, TERI (WHO WILL GREATLY MISS BEING GREETED AT THE DOOR WITH “HOW WAS YOUR DAY?”) SONS: JONATHAN SAWTELLE (KRISTINA), ELIJAH (TINA), JOSHUA (MEGAN), AND JACOB (LAURA); AND PRECIOUS GRANDCHILDREN: IAN, ESME, ZOE, TITUS, TAYLAH, AZARIAH, RACHAEL, BENNY, ALYSSA AND A BABY GIRL DUE IN FEBRUARY.
HE IS ALSO SURVIVED BY HIS SIBLINGS: DEBBY (LOU), TOM (PAULA), GIO (JIM), KEITH (KRISTEN), ROSIE (JODY), MICHAEL, STEPSISTER NANCY (BOB) AND MANY WONDERFUL NIECES AND NEPHEWS.
HE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY HIS PARENTS, STEPFATHER WALTER PEKKANEN, BROTHER GERALD “SKIPPER”, AND DAUGHTER ALEISA.
D.J. WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED FOR TELLING PEOPLE WHEN LEAVING THEM…
“SEE YOU HERE, THERE, OR IN THE AIR.” COME QUICKLY LORD JESUS!
LOCAL SERVICES ARE PENDING AT THE COTOPAXI CHURCH. DAVID WILL BE INTERRED WITH HIS MOTHER IN POLAND, OHIO.
