Between work tables and Heidelberg presses at Smith & McKay Printing Co., nearly 300 people honored this wish with narratives unraveling the life of a man both multifaceted and well-loved, during a memorial service on Oct. 29.

On Oct. 16, the longtime Campbell resident died. He was 48 years old.

Born on May 10, 1956, David was the third of four McKay children. His family and friends remember him as a cute, blond boy who caused little trouble and loved to have fun. "Little David" took particular pleasure in sinking his friend's battleships.

After living in Chicago for several years with his mother, Barbara McKay, and sister Anne O'Riley, David hitchhiked back to California when he was 15. He began working for his father, Leonard McKay Jr.—well-known in the community as a San Jose historian—at the Smith & McKay Printing Co.

The printing shop had been a family legacy since 1919. Founded by David's great-grandmother Bessie Smith and grandfather Leonard McKay Sr., the shop was taken over by Leonard McKay Jr. as owner and president in 1953. David began working at the lowest levels of the printing operation, first sweeping the floors and making deliveries, then moving up to cutting and bindery. Finally, in 1983, 26-year-old David purchased Smith & McKay from Leonard.

As owner and president of Smith & McKay, David was known as a devoted boss and an uncompromising perfectionist. To friends and family, he was a practical jokester, an avid fisherman, and a man who gave everything to everybody

He also sometimes logged as many as 18 to 20 hours a day, subsisting on Diet Coke and cigars. "He always put in more than you asked because he wanted your job to be perfect," old friend Gwen Hageman says.

"Dave died of overwork and not being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel," his father says.

David's drive for perfection won him many awards that grace the front room of Smith & McKay, lining two walls of the shop. David and his employees won some of the printing industry's most prestigious accolades, both locally and nationally, often beating print companies that were more than three times their size.

To his older sister, Pamela Miller, the business defined David. Its success greatly affected his self-esteem, she says, which was evident during tough economic times. Miller says when local customers opted to use out-of-town printers, David took it all to heart. And during harder times, when there was limited business, David found it difficult to let go of his employees. Several employees have worked for him for decades, and many teenage boys in need of work got their first job at Smith & McKay.

"We were all like family here; we could talk to him," said Fred Calori, a 25-year Smith & McKay veteran. "I've felt really supported here all the days I've worked here for Dave."

It was his employees and fellow businesses who partnered with family and friends to arrange the memorial service.

All agreed that the casual atmosphere of the print shop would be the best place for his memorial. It was where he spent the bulk of his life, making friends and customers. Since his death, the printing shop has closed its doors.

This closure in the life of the print shop and the McKay family will also affect the community, which benefited from David's generosity. Many nonprofits, including the Special Olympics and the San Jose Fire Department Muster Team, often received free or heavily discounted items from David.

"It was more important for him to help people than to have things," Miller said.

Those benefits also stretched into David's personal life.

It was through his goodwill to Books Aloud Inc. that he met longtime girlfriend Penny Pruett. Over the years, David had donated $80,000 worth of printing to the organization's annual fundraiser. When he met Pruett, she was the special-event coordinator for Books Aloud.

Pursuing Pruett six years ago, David told her, "You're gonna realize that I'm a great catch."

"And he was," said Pruett. "It was like falling in love with your best friend."

Pruett and others remember David by the particulars that made him unique: his love for dogs, the way he liked his macaroni and cheese with two packets of cheese, the half-smoked cheroots—cigars—left on ledges all over San Jose, or how he'd walk employees to their cars after a late night of work.

For Joey Stagnero, whose family owns a sizable fishing operation in Santa Cruz, David's death sinks deep. McKay was an avid fisherman, who Stagnero met on his family's fishing boat when Stagnero was a child. Almost every weekend since those early years, Stagnero was charged with setting up eight fishing poles for David.

"I lost not just a friend and fishing partner, I lost pretty much the man that raised me, and it just crushed me," Stagnero said. "I didn't believe no one; I didn't want to. I called Penny and I broke down. Now what?"

Walter Nash, fellow fisherman and friend, said David has been missed on the boat. He and others set up a pole for David after his death and would not let a single fisherman near it.

Nash also plans to honor David in their annual Who's Your Daddy Sport Fishing Big Ling Tournament. Next year, all fishing derby participants will receive a T-shirt that will read "In Memory of Dave McKay" on the sleeve. All proceeds will be donated to a fishing organization that supports rock cod fishing or fishing management.

Henry's Hi-Life restaurant and bar will also name its annual fishing charter after David. The restaurant also donated food for the memorial service.

David fell in love with fishing as a toddler on family fishing trips, said Leonard. Father and son also shared a love of history, and on Jan. 15, History San Jose will open the Leonard and Dave McKay Gallery. The gallery will exhibit the works of San Jose painters, a longtime collection of Leonard's.

David's body was cremated. His ashes will be spread at sea.

David McKay is survived by his father, Leonard McKay; two sisters, Pam Miller and Anne O'Riley; and his one brother, Chris McKay. His mother, Barbara McKay, is deceased.