David Picou

David John Picou passed away on November 30, 2019 at his Aransas Pass residence. David was born August 2, 1951 to Herbert and Ruby Picou. He was 68 years old.

David is preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his loving wife of 36 years, Pamela Picou; his two daughters, Kelsey Picou and Kerry Picou, both of Ingleside; and his two sisters, Carole Richardson and Pam Beavers, both of Fort Worth, TX.

A Memorial Service was held on Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 10:00am at Charlie Marshall Funeral Home at 2003 W. Wheeler in Aransas Pass, Texas.

David John Picou was born in Corpus Christi, TX on August 2, 1951 to his loving parents, Ruby and Herbert Picou. He grew up in Aransas Pass in the Oak Park neighborhood and was a graduate of Aransas Pass High School. From there he continued his education and graduated from Texas A&I Kingsville in 1974 with a degree in Psychology. David was a free-spirited man; after college he backpacked across Europe to gain a more ‘worldly’ experience. David worked at MHMR for several years as a Social Worker, where he’d vividly re-tell the experiences and stories he gained from his time there. When a new calling came for David, he joined his father at the Coastal Door Shop on Conn Brown Harbor in Aransas Pass. He built custom equipment and trawler doors for the shrimping industry. He retired from Coastal Door Shop around 2006.

He met his wife Pam in 1982 and they married in 1984. After they married the two of them set on their own travels and visited Las Vegas frequently and set sail on more cruises than you or I could count with both hands. Together they have two daughters, Kelsey and Kerry.

Some of his hobbies included gardening. He grew every single color of every kind of pepper under the sun. He’d have home gardens where he grew his own vegetables. Nothing would make him madder than when he’d cuss and fight with the neighborhood squirrels who got a hold of his tomatoes or the cut ants who would strip his harvest overnight. Lately, he had been enjoying herb gardening where he’d grow spearmint, peppermint,  thyme, rosemary… all the kitchen spices. Another thing David loved to do was home-brew his own craft beer. Kelsey and Kerry would come home from school and hold their noses saying something was stinking up the whole house… David would throw back his head and laugh because he loved the smell of the yeast taking off with his brew kits.

A quirky collection item David had was flashlights. The man must have seriously owned over a hundred flashlights. He’d go on and on describing the lumens and brightening effects to anyone who would listen. He also had enough pocket knives to fill every pocket of every pair of jeans or shorts he owned. David spent time joining online forums where he’d participate in quality assurance testing for pocket knives and flashlights. Another hobby of David’s was to buy, sell and trade firearms. In his ‘young days’ he loved to ride motorcycles. He had more than one Harley Davidson… one in black, one was teal and one was red.

David was an excellent handyman. He could fix ANYTHING. He was a self-proclaimed expert at A/C Repairs, Sink Repairs, Sprinkler Repairs, any household problem you can think of… he was going to be the problem solver. If anything he bought had a lifetime warranty.. YOU BETTER BELIEVE he kept the original receipt and always made sure he was going to get a replacement. It sounds funny, but when the kitchen faucet broke he was happy because that thing had a lifetime warranty and he pulled out his receipt from 20 years prior and went to go and get his free replacement.

David was also good at building things out of extra parts. His family has mahogany cutting boards from scrap wood from his shop. Even his flagpole in his front yard, he took such pride that he made it out of a shrimp boat antenna. I guess you could say he was into ‘D-I-Y’ before it was a cool thing. He was the ultimate recycler and re-user. If he bought something he was going to make SURE he got the entire full use of its life-span. Pam will tell you that he started duct-taping his shorts when they’d get a little tear, and she’d secretly rip them a little more when she’d do laundry so he’d quit wearing them. David would even recycle foil. You’d open his fridge and there would just be saved foil in there because he would use it more than once. To say he was frugal was an understatement. But that’s what he totally got a kick out of… being able to save a dollar whenever he possibly could.

David loved to laugh. He loved to make others laugh. Another thing he loved to do was cook. Some of his specialties included gumbo, rocky road candy, various homemade breads, pepper sauces and salsa.

He took great pride in watching his daughters grow up. He’d check their school homework every night, play ‘Go-Fish’ before bedtime and sing and dance in the living room to his ‘oldies’ music when the girls’ friends would come over. One time around Halloween, he surprised Kelsey and Kerry and their friends who were having a slumber party with Orange rice in his rice cooker. He laughed and laughed because he said he did it to make it look like a pumpkin for Halloween. To this day, he could quote movie lines from movies like Matilda, Home Alone or The Wizard of Oz with his girls. One thing he always preached to them was to save their money, or it would “grow wings and fly away”.  One thing he always made sure of, was that their cars were in tip-top condition. He was the “self-proclaimed” inspector. And boy, the girls were always afraid they wouldn’t pass their Dad’s inspection. He knew where the newest hair-line scratch was, when the latest ding or rock-chip in the windshield appeared, and how many miles were being put on their cars. As Dad’s do, he was always there to put air in the tires and remind them of dates on his calendar for when the oil changes or tire rotations were due.

David was a human encyclopedia for product reviews. Before he purchased anything, he would go online and read every rating and review to compare every feature prior to his purchase. Even if you mentioned to him that you were considering buying something, he’d be the one to come back a few days later to fill you in on all the pros and cons.

David loved music and had a huge collection of CD’s, records and albums. He was known to play his music loud and proud. Some of his favorite artists were Jethro Tull, Merle Haggard, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Hank Williams Jr and Sr. and the Beach Boys. On Christmas morning, he’d wake the whole house up by playing ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ on his loud speakers in the living room.

He enjoyed watching Turner Class movies. Especially John Wayne western movies. During the Holidays, his favorite movies were “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Grinch”.

David was a true free spirit, he didn’t care what anyone thought of him. He was who he was, and anyone that knew him wouldn’t have it any other way. He loved life, lived a good life and he gave the best of who he was to those he knew and loved. All that knew David knew he was truly one of a kind. There’s not enough words in this world to describe another father, husband, family member and friend like David Picou has been for the last 68 years. He will be missed and eternally loved deeply by all that knew him.