David Brandon's Memorial Fund

Jude Fletcher is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hello, I’m Jude Fletcher, the recent widow and partner of David Brandon, artist, master screen printer and sign maker of Brandon Silkscreen. We ran our successful sign company together for over 39 years. David died of bile duct cancer in the wee hours of June 28, 2022. It was sudden and extremely aggressive. We walked into the emergency room here in Oakland on July 1st, to address an ongoing pain. On July 16th, I was bringing him home to die with the kitties and me. The docs gave him a day or two. David stayed with us for 10 more days, seeing beautiful visions of the other side, taking great pleasure in visiting with friends and negotiating the terms of his final departure.

David’s sudden death was not in the cards for us. He had just last year been released from four months of hospitalization, where, after a successful heart surgery, he had to be intubated and subsequently left this world for 13 minutes. Miraculously, Dave came back. He had to learn to do everything over again - walking, swallowing, drawing, you name it. His spirit, heart and sense of humor were undiminished throughout all these challenges. We got one perfect year.

Within that year, David and I were as close as any couple can be. We were back at sign making, seeing our clients, many of whom are also good friends, going to San Francisco Giants games, birdwatching - we had made a list during that time and checked off a lot of it. Now, the future is up in the air in so many ways, and my right hand David is not here to help. There is no estate, no life insurance policy and no recent income due to Dave’s illness over the last three months. Only difficult decisions and tasks that have to be done.

Number one is giving Dave a lovely send-off with friends and family. As all of you have said, Dave was the kindest person you knew and I would like all of you to join me in saying goodbye.

There are so many decisions I have to make. I need time to figure it out; in Oakland, time costs money!

Our sign business - can I keep it going or not? I worked by his side for 39 years, and we had some divisions of labor for efficiency’s sake. There would be a learning curve for some things, a couple that I’ve already figured out. In so many ways, David was the business. Our clients want me to keep it going, but that leads to …

Our shop - we have a very efficient and sweet shop here in West Oakland, but that means rent. As Dave had been ill for three months, two of which we thought were just a few doctor’s appointments and he’d be good again, he hadn’t worked and, therefore, had no income. I need to get a job. I work legal positions on the side, but that doesn’t pay the …

Rent on our house. We usually have a roommate, but David and I decided to wait a bit. After his near-death experience last year, we just wanted to be alone. We were going to start looking, but screening folks was too much for him. And now, I have to screen folks on my own. I need to find a friend or a friend of a friend. Know anyone? That takes time, and I cannot afford this house on my own, nor can I afford to move at this time.

Dave is helping me through this from the other side, I know this to be true, but I need help from this side, too. Hopefully, from you. I thank you for any assistance you can provide.

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