David Joseph Banks

Some of Dave’s fondest memories were helping his mother take care of his baby sister and playing in the orange groves where Disneyland now stands.

Dave graduated from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana in 1959. He enrolled in pharmacy school at the College of the Pacific (later University of Pacific) in Stockton, CA, and was a member of Phi Delta Chi pharmacy fraternity. It was there that he met Wendy Oxley during orientation. He proposed in the Rose Garden and she said yes.

Dave and Wendy married on June 9, 1962, at St. Joseph’s Church in Redding, CA, and honeymooned on Santa Catalina Island. They were a bit embarrassed when rice spilled out of the hair dryer box and landed on the tarmac. The newlyweds returned to Stockton to finish college and start a family. Dave graduated from college in 1964. By 1967, they had three daughters and in 1970 they welcomed a baby boy into their growing family.

A chance meeting on a chair lift in Tahoe gave them word of a pharmacy for sale in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. They gladly traded peat dust for cooling fog! Dave found a business partner and made the move to Carmel Drug Store, the oldest drug store in town.

For over 40 years, he was a pharmacist across the Monterey Peninsula and a member of Carmel Host Lions Club, Knights of Columbus, and Carmel Residents Association.

Upon retirement, Dave and Wendy joined the Peace Corps in 2008, serving in Tanzania. Together, they worked tirelessly to educate and empower young women.

Returning home, Dave and Wendy resumed friendships, family gatherings, and walks by the ocean with their beloved miniature schnauzer, Izzie. Carmel Mission was an important part of Dave’s spiritual life and continues to be for Wendy.

Dave was preceded in death by parents, Albert and Rosemary Banks; and brothers, Al and Don Banks.

Surviving relatives include his wife, Wendy; daughters, Rebecca Tracy, Jennifer and husband Jeff Svihus, Emily and husband Paul Cappellano; son, Josh Banks; grandchildren, Abigail Tyndall (Wade), Alexis Loader, Gabriel Loader, Nicholas Tracy, Dylan Svihus (Molly), Jonah Svihus, Dante Cappellano, Ellyse Cappellano, Seamus Cappellano. Great-grandchildren include Luca, Freya, Ada, and Jude. He is also survived by his sister, Beverly Deckard of Hesperia, CA.

A Mass will be said at 10 a.m. November 24 at Carmel Mission with a reception immediately following at Crespi Hall.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made at ihelpmontereybay.org or by clicking on the link below under ‘Donations’.