David P. McCauley

Dave McCauley passed from this mortal life on Friday, February 20, 2026. He was 95 years old. He was born April 19, 1930, the first child of Myron and Lydia McCauley, in Long Beach California. When he was just three, the Long Beach earthquake destroyed the family home. Myron took the family to Fresno California to start fresh. McCauley's have been in the Fresno area ever since.

In Fresno the family grew to include a daughter, Joy Anne, and another son named Stanley. Dave was a little boy during the Great Depression and a teenager during World War II. As a Boy Scout he collected scrap metal for the war effort and learned how to make do with what was available.

Dave attended and graduated from Fresno High School which was conveniently located across the street from his home. He loved sports of all kinds, especially track and field. He was involved in all kinds of school activities and served as Student Body President.

Dave began his college career at Fresno State and completed his undergraduate work at UCLA, where he later completed his master's degree. He enjoyed the university atmosphere in southern California and belonged to a fraternity while attending UCLA. His college education was interrupted, however, by the Korean war. He participated in ROTC in college and entered the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant. He served as a training officer in Georgia and in various postings in Japan and Korea. Notwithstanding the Army's efforts to convince him to make the Army a career, Dave returned to civilian life to focus on his real calling…being an educator.

Dave began his career as a math teacher but quickly moved to become Dean of Students, then Vice Principle and then Principal of the newly built Ahwahnee Middle School. After a few years he was promoted to Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education in the Fresno Unified School District and was eventually the Associate Superintendent of Schools for Fresno Unified School District when he retired.

In "retirement" Dave continued to teach in new roles…as an Adjunct Professor at Fresno State University and as a Docent/guide at the Fresno Chafee Zoo. He also volunteered at the Fresno Children's Hospital. And much to the surprise of his family, he began piano lessons.

Dave loved family. He married Donna M. Anderson on December 27, 1959. They have been married for more than 66 years. They brought three wonderful children into their home: Kellina, Erik, and Matthew. Dave has seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Dave loved to hike and backpack, and those trips usually included one or more of his children. He backpacked all over the Sierra Nevada, the Grand Canyon, the Grand Tetons, the Cascades and the deserts of the Southwest. He once took 13 Boy Scouts 110 miles over the Sierra Nevada's, climbing to the summit of Mr. Whitney, on a trip that no one will ever forget.

Dave loved people and loved to meet new friends. He connected with waiters and waitresses everywhere he went, he knew the life stories of nurses, receptionists, mechanics, store clerks, barbers, doctors and even gas station attendants. He never preached sermons outside of church, but he made sure that his actions were a sermon of God's love to everyone he met.

Dave was an optimist to his core. He was expert at finding hope, encouragement and something positive in everyone he met and in every circumstance. This is why no matter how cloudy the day, or how dark the event – he was always able to find blue sky peeking through. We will miss him every day.