It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our brother, brother-in-law and uncle, David John Rucker Yellowlees at the age of 61.
David was born in Vancouver, BC to Robin and Jean Yellowlees and at the age of 2 moved to England where sister, Jennifer was born in 1961. David was extremely bright, naming all of the cars on the road at the age of 2 and reading adult insect/reptile books by age 4 and 5. The family moved back to Canada in 1970 to Kelowna, BC. David had an amazing ability to catch wild reptiles, snakes and other animals with his bare hands. He always had an interesting assortment of fish, snakes, lizards, etc. on –going. At 16, David got his first job at the Keg N Cleaver in Kelowna and at 17 was the floor manager. In his late 20’s David moved to Vancouver and worked in the cities top Restaurants. He adored his customers and they adored him, many of them were silver screeners and celebrities. He remained in the professional hospitality industry until the year before passing David had an extensive knowledge of Rock and other bands form the 60’s to current and enjoyed going to the concerts in Vancouver, David Bowie being one of his favorites. David acquired diabetes and his health started to fail, but he never lost his quick sense of humor, coolness and of course sweetness. Jennifer will treasure all of the phone conversations as they spoke daily and of course our yearly visits together. David leaves behind his sister, Jennifer Saastad (Wayne), niece, Sondra Saastad with great-nephew, Maddox, Red Deer, nephews, Jeremy Saastad, and Timothy Saastad all of Sylvan Lake, Alberta as well as uncle David VanEbeling and his family in Great Britain as well as many friends. He was pre-deceased by his father, Robin in 2012 and mother, Jean in 2018, No funeral will occur and instead a special gathering will be planned at a later date to join Robin and Jean’s ashes in a special place. We would like to thank David’s friend Keith for all of his help during our stay in Vancouver. So many people reached out to us at such a difficult time. David you will not be forgotten.