Posted by Max Bottomtime on May 28, 2005 at 01:38:45:
In Reply to: Diver found with stab wound at Christmas Tree Cove posted by Max Bottomtime on May 27, 2005 at 20:49:18:
Man who died in accident gets wish
Scuba diver David Millasich's family will have El Segundo man's ashes scattered in the ocean Friday.
By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze
David Scott Millasich knew where he wanted to be every day of his life, and where he wanted to be after death.
"He would say, 'If something ever happens to me, make sure you cremate me and scatter my ashes at sea. Let me go out to the water, let me go to the ocean,' " said his former wife, Debra Flores.
Family members will honor the avid beachgoer's request Friday.
In a bizarre, tragic end on his 44th birthday, the El Segundo father of three died Sunday at the beach in Palos Verdes Estates, a spot where he went spear fishing four or five days a week. The scuba diver slipped and fell, landing on his 7-inch knife.
"That was his spot down there," Flores said. "He would do it just to unwind and relax. He just loved to be in the water."
A man walking his dog saw Millasich lying on the rocks below the 2800 block of Paseo del Mar about 3:15 p.m. He rolled him over and saw that Millasich was bleeding from the right side of his chest.
Millasich told him he had fallen onto his knife. He apparently pulled it out and died from the wound.
Police investigated the incident and determined Millasich's death to be an accident.
"We are just in shock," Flores said. "It's just so weird and it's so stupid. All I can say is he died doing what he loved doing the most, which was going in the water."
Born in El Paso, Texas, Millasich came to California with his father at 15 years old. A house painter, he started ABLE Painting and Decorating, working in homes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula for 20 years. He fathered two children in two marriages, daughter Tiffany, 17, of Redondo Beach; and son Storm, 8, of Oklahoma. He became father to his second wife's daughter, Brittany Lerner, 15, who also lives in Oklahoma. He leaves behind two ex-wives.
The night before he died, Tiffany brought her prom date to meet her father. She arrived in a limousine to show her father her dress and her date.
"The next day when we went over to get all his things, we found this thing he had downloaded off the Internet," Flores said. "It was his application for permission" to date his daughter.
Family members routinely warned him to be careful with his scuba diving, along with his other beach activities, swimming and surfing. He apparently headed down to the beach on his birthday.
"It's kind of a place of solitude and relaxation to get away from the world," Flores said.
Millasich was cremated Friday. The family plans its service at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Redondo Beach.