Derek Michael Scally

Derek grew up in Barrington, Illinois, enjoying a close friendship with neighboring children on Grove Street and later North Avenue and its environs.  At age 9, the family moved to Anaheim Hills, California, where Derek made many new close friends and directed the neighborhood children in recorded performances of Batman, Indiana Jones, and James Bond.

In both childhood and adulthood, Derek’s terrific energy and passion for performance, primarily through acting but also through music and sports, attracted those around him and led to lifelong friendships.  Derek attended Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, making lifelong friends, playing on the golf team, and starring in the title role in a production of Father of the Bride, marking the beginning of a career as a thespian of the highest order.  After graduation he attended Concordia University in Irvine, California, again making lifelong friends, and starring in many productions to rave reviews, including the title role in a production of The Nerd in 1995.  In The Nerd, Derek left audiences rollicking with tears of laughter throughout his performance, a tour de force of comedic acting described in one review as “almost too side-splitting for the audience to bear.”  Derek later attended Central Michigan University, again starring in several plays and musicals, notably rendering a moving portrayal of a soldier in The Things They Carried with depth and subtlety.  Upon moving back to Southern California, Derek continued to appear in lead roles in community theater, in both comedic and dramatic roles, including as the protagonist Lt. Daniel Caffey in a performance of A Few Good Men at the Covina Valley Playhouse, and a hilarious turn as Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Cypress College Theatre.  

Derek brought grace, humor, and good will to several years bartending in Northridge, California.  In an industry with high turnover, Derek again found the diamonds in the rough with whom he could connect, establishing lifelong friendships with men and women both from, and destined for, many walks of life.  

Derek later graduated with honors from a police academy in Fullerton and served as an officer at Palisades Patrol in Pacific Palisades, California.  He rose to the rank of Sergeant and hired and trained several new officers in that capacity.  He enjoyed the friendship and camaraderie of many fellow officers and staff.  Long a lover of animals, particularly his childhood dog Rowdy, he guided a lost sea lion stranded on Pacific Coast Highway back to sea during his time in Palisades.  In June 2018, he responded to a call for service and, along with an off-duty FBI agent, engaged in a high-speed foot pursuit and apprehended, at gunpoint, two perpetrators of a strong arm robbery committed at a high-end retail store just moments before

Derek’s life was punctuated by the remarkable.  At age 12 he entered a trivia contest held at a local auditorium for James Bond fans; though the dozens of other contestants were all adults over the age of 30, Derek placed third.  In the winter of 1997 he hit a hole in one while golfing in Florida.  During a trip to the remote wilderness of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, while free climbing in the mountains, he saved a friend’s life in dangerous conditions.

Derek will be remembered by his loving family and many close friends as a smart, creative, handsome, and decent person who brought fun, wit, irreverence, and laughter wherever he went.  He will be sorely missed by many.

Derek is preceded in death by stepfather Harvey Keith Carden, grandparents Robert John DeMatio, Bonnie Jean DeMatio (nee Thompson), John Edward Scally II, and Edith Bernardine Scally (nee Shepherd), aunt Ann DeMatio, and cousin Matthew DeMatio.  He is survived by parents Nancy Jeanne Carden and Mark William Scally, brother Gregory Shepherd Scally, sister-in-law Kim Lam, nephew Soren Lam Scally, niece Severine Scally Lam, and many close friends and extended family.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, August 12, 2021, at 10:30 a.m., at San Antonio Catholic Church in Anaheim Hills, located at 5800 East Santa Ana Canyon Road, preceded by a rosary at 10:00 a.m., and reception to follow.  A wider Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, August 14, 2021, at 3:00 p.m. at Salem Lutheran Church, at 6500 East Santiago Canyon Road, Orange, California, with reception to follow.  All are welcome at either event.  It is respectfully requested that the unvaccinated consider attending via Facebook livestream, and that attendees wear masks in accordance with CDC and local guidelines.  In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Habitat for Humanity, with whom Derek volunteered helping to build houses in Southern California.