Timothy William Dryer

Timothy William Dryer, 60, aka Santa Tim, lived much of his life in Orange County, Ca. He passed away due to complications of pneumonia. After many months struggling with life threatening health issues, his passing was peaceful as it could be, without pain, at the ICU of Long Beach Memorial Hospital. Timmy was surround by his second family – the doctors and nurses who provided constant medical care for many years. He passed early Sunday, January 26, 2020; holding his sister Tee’s hand and with his niece Brittnee by his side.

Timmy is survived by his siblings; Mark, Patrick, Tee, Joseph and their families. His parents; Bill and Joan Dryer both had passed many years before. He is survived by a half sister Jill Sarsfield Haley and her family, His Aunt Mary McGowan, his cousin Jeannie Kuskowaski and her family, Ashton whom he loved as a son, and many friends.

 Timmy lived his life unapologetically, without regrets, and he had a bit of a wild side that more than often would get him into trouble. He had a great smile; a twinkle in his eyes, he was very charming and made friends easily. He loved passionately; especially for his family and was very loyal to family and friends.

 Timmy loved all his nieces and nephews so much. He called Jamie “Jamie Jammer”, it was not her favorite name but, it was his nickname for her. He was proud of all of them. He lived with Mark, Patrick and Tee various times during his life. When Tee’s daughters; Cassie and Brittnee were little; Timmy would often drop them off or picked them up from school in his semi-truck with a trailer on the back.  Just to make them giggle or mostly be embarrassed, he would blow the horn as he drove up. It always made him laugh. Timmy had a great laugh.

 As a young man Timmy was in the US Air Force as a mechanic, his service career ended with an honorable discharge. He loved cars, working on cars, and more importantly he loved to drive. His favorite career was as a truck driver for rock and roll bands. He enjoyed being on tour with REM, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Jackson Brown, Van Halen and many other bands. Timmy loved the rock and roll life and all that came with it.

 After many years of that life, he switched careers to long distance truck driver; moving furniture cross country. He was very proud of his ability to pack down a house. He had one story he loved to tell about moving a house with bright white carpet, he got a $500.00 bonus tip for keeping the carpet spotless and very bright white. One of his fondest memories of “being on the road”; was when his nephew Seth joined him in the truck for two weeks during a school break. Timmy adored Seth; and was so proud of him being an officer and fighter pilot in the US Navy.

 Timmy’s last job was at Orange County Ice for Don Brown, who became a father figure to him. He loved the “ice business”, which was the industry his father worked. One of Timmy’s greatest joys while working at the ice plant, was getting to do “snow jobs”. He created winter wonderlands made with snow produced from large ice blocks. He made businesses and people’s homes look like it had freshly snowed during the Christmas season. One of his annual customers wrote an article about “Tim the Snowman” and it included photos of him and his crew blowing snow in a park for an event. He was so happy and proud when that same customer handed him a poster size frame with the article capture within. For many Christmas Eve’s; Timmy made sure to cover his sister Tee’s yard with mounds of snow, and up on the roof top, to surprise the kids on Christmas morning.

 Christmas was Timmy’s favorite season and he loved being Santa, with his real white hair and long beard. He would get such a huge smile on his face when it was off season, and little kids would see him out and about. They would think he was Santa out of his costume and come up to talk to him. They would giggle and want to ask him lots of questions. He was very willing and happy to pretend he was Santa each time. Each encounter always ended with a hug, and Timmy telling them he is always watching, so they better be good, and do what their parents tell them to. It was such an unexpected, joyful time for Timmy, the kids and their parents.

 For the past 10 years Timmy lived in various skilled nursing facilities due to his many health issues. He knocked on death’s door too often but, he always managed to recover. To the surprise of his doctors; Timmy kept surviving medical crisis after crisis. God kept Timmy on this earth to fulfill his ministry of joy, empathy, and care. He was the caregiver and advocate for many of the residents at the various skilled nursing facilities where he lived. They called out to Timmy like he was a rock star whenever he was walking around the facilities. He made his rounds each day, he gave his special lady friends a kiss on the cheek each morning and night, he advocated for patients who did not have anyone to care for them, and he enjoyed his visits with “the gang” in the smoking patio many times each day. At Christmas he wore his Santa hat and passed out candy canes and cards to every person; residents, nurses, doctors, no one was left without some Christmas cheer from Santa Tim.

 Timmy chose to be cremated and have his ashes spread across the highways to be the guardian angel of all long-distance truck drivers. His nephew Ryan is going to fulfil that wish and take Timmy on a final “road trip”.

 In lieu of flowers, Timmy wished that donations be made to St Andrews Episcopal Church,1231 E Chapman Ave, Fullerton, CA 92831 Phone: (714) 870-4350. At St. Andrews there is a Soup Kitchen for anyone in need of a meal. Many of Timmy’s friends are homeless, the donations can be designated that they go to the Soup Kitchen in Timmy’s name.