Gary Pilapil (54), was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 5th, 1970. Gary passed away unexpectedly of unknown causes in his home in Half Moon Bay, CA on October 10, 2024. He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Guinevere M (Cook) Pilapil; loving son Koen (18), and cherished daughter Kaia (9). He was a caring brother to Greg Pilapil (46) and devoted to his parents Roger Pilapil (81) and Leticia (Ventura) Pilapil (81).

 

Gary started his life in Philadelphia, then moved in 1976 with his mom and dad to New Jersey right before his brother was born in 1977. In the 1980's he and the family made a big change and moved west to the Sacramento area. Gary was an active and spirited child who loved exploring the woods behind his home on the east coast and once he moved to the west coast he would speak fondly of missing the snow from back east. As a child growing up in Sacramento, he enjoyed playing soccer, and skateboarding and began his interest in Martial arts. At the age of ten years, attending Reid's Martial Arts, he was the only child at the dojo often being matched with adults twice his size. In his adolescence, another big move came for Gary and his family. He, his mom, dad, and brother moved to Taiwan for his dad's work, building Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant. The family lived 200 yards from the beach in southern Taiwan (Kenting), where he found his love of surfing, often riding a small motorcycle down to the beach with friends camping, and surfing as much as he could. When he became older he moved to the northern side of the island where he attended Morrison Academy, a boarding school in Taipei, Taiwan. At Morrison Academy, he made lifelong friends and was known for his love of music and breakdancing.

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Gary grew up interested in many active pursuits. When his family returned to Sacramento from Taiwan he continued soccer, skateboarding, and martial arts. Gary was a kuya (big brother) to Greg and many times his little brother came with him in his skateboarding pursuits. Gary fondly recounted a time he brought his little brother to a skateboard contest and his little brother ended up entering and winning a spot in the competition! Always outgoing and friendly Gary made lifelong friends while he attended Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova. In the mid-1990s, Gary transferred from American River Community College to San Jose State University. While attending SJSU Gary met some of his closest lifelong friends, and was nicknamed "Pops". Gary's resilience and pursuit of excellence were instrumental to his success in the Design program at the university, his first try at the program he failed to get admitted. He persevered, got in on the second try, and he graduated in 1997 with a BFA in Graphic Design. This moment is one testament of many to his grit and commitment.

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After college, Gary moved back to the Sacramento area to be close to family and pursue a career in design. This is where he met his wife, Guinevere, in 1998. From their first meeting, they both had a lasting impact on the other; a friendship, then love swiftly grew. Over the next five years, Gary pursued his career in design with the passion and commitment he puts towards everything; he also started to build a foundation of love and family with Guinevere while living in the Bay Area and Sacramento regions as they pursued their careers. In 2003, with a home purchased and married to Guinevere, they built their family in Sacramento, raising their spirited and energetic son Koen (b. 2006) surrounded by friends and family. Gary's warmth, kindness, and love of family continued to radiate from him. Guinevere's parents, Michael Cook and Stacey Solem-Cook loved him from the moment they met him, and her younger brother Joseph Briscoe-Cook rapidly became Gary's little brother whom Gary was very protective over like his own, teaching him martial arts (Wing Chun), giving him kuya (big brother) advice, and taking him snowboarding. Fitting time between family and work, Gary continued his martial arts training in Wing Chun Kung Fu under instruction from Sifu Eddie Chong in Sacramento. He also trained in Bak Mei and Tai Chi Chuan. Gary, always being easygoing and willing to try something new, allowed Guinevere to sign him and herself up for a running group at Fleet Feet Sacramento where he and Guinevere made lifelong friends running and planning their post-run meals. Gary being a natural-born leader soon found himself going from novice runner, to mentor, to running coach for Fleet Feet Sacramento.

 

Gary's career pursuits once again pulled him and his little family to the Bay Area. The family settled in Half Moon Bay, an easy choice next to the ocean and a place prioritizing the spirit of community which was so important to him and his family. While living coastside Gary's love of surfing re-energized and continued. In 2014, his fierce and tiny daughter came into the world and his little family of three now expanded their hearts to four. Gary's daughter, Kaia, is a force to be reckoned with and her brother Koen swiftly settled into the role of kuya (big brother) naturally, credited to Gary's example of dedication. As a family, they loved being in or near the water as much as possible, paddle boarding, swimming, and kayaking.

 

The move to Half Moon Bay, allowed Gary to begin training in Pekiti Tirsha Kali (PTK) under Guro Ferd Terado. PTK is a Filipino martial art; Gary was proud of his Filipino heritage and pursuing PTK was a passion pursuit of his lifetime. After years of dedication to the training, Gary became a Guro within PTK - SMF group under Tuhon Tim Waid's organization. Up until his death, he shared his passions with a group of students he trained on the Peninsula twice per week. Gary's students were not only there for him to teach, but because of his kind and loving nature, they were his friends.

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In Gary's career, he followed his design passions and in 2006 he opened a studio, called BlueMango Creative Group with a friend. For many years, he was a partner in the company and pursued his love of design on his terms. His last place of employment was at MSCI, where he worked the last three years as VP, Senior Lead Visual UX Designer. Gary was pivotal in spearheading their software design system, acting as the gatekeeper for their UI and user experience standards, including color theory, visual design, and common software design patterns for consistency. Gary was always a dedicated and committed partner in business whether working for corporations or financial companies like Citrix or Wells Fargo, non-profits like The Tech Museum of Innovation, family atmosphere design firms like Anderson Solone, or running his own business.

 

Gary's list of interests, athletic pursuits, and passions was extensive. As the weather turned cold, Gary could be found planning a trip to Tahoe to snowboard. Often, one or all of his family, joined him to "go play" in the snow. If you were lucky enough to go up the mountain with him it was a delight to see his childlike joy while carving a mountain or making snow angels. Gary would say sliding down mountains or waves made him happy. No matter what the weather, Gary would make time for archery. This became something he could do solo or often it became a family outing since the passion was also shared among his wife and children. He even packed up his gear and hauled it over 1,000 miles, ensuring he could practice during the family vacation in Montana. Skateboarding and soccer were continued interests of Gary's. Both his kids played soccer, and the sheer excitement of watching his kids play a sport he loved was infectious. Gary was their biggest fan in all his children's pursuits. Often following the European soccer leagues he would wake at 4 AM to watch the games televised from the UK, he was a Manchester United fan through and through. Gary's love of skateboarding was a shared passion with his son, Koen. The two of them shared stories of the tricks and skills "then and now" as our son would tune his skateboard alongside his dad. The day both Koen and Kaia got their first skateboards, was one of his happiest days.

 

Music was a huge facet of Gary's life. His interests and collection were eclectic and varied. He collected vinyl records and had turntables that he would spin and mix for hours (before kids). Once he had children he shared his love of music with them, oftentimes when Koen and Kaia were trapped in the car, listening to a personally curated mix of downloads just for the trip.

 

When Gary wasn't driving his kids to soccer games, skateboarding locations, gymnastics meets, or pursuing one of his interests he could be found training. Training in martial arts, or choosing other modalities such as weight training, rowing, or cycling to improve his martial arts training. He trained not just consistently, but constantly - if you spent any time with him you may have noticed how he quickly and silently bounds across a room practicing with an invisible opponent - a sight to see! With his wife Guinevere as a certified personal trainer, they often sat and talked of new training ideas or were putting together a new program for him to help with his many activities or to keep up with his kids. His patience and enthusiasm for his wife's interests and pursuits were steadfast.

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Gary lived and loved big. His family first, Koen and Kaia above all else, but don't assume that he didn't put passion and dedication into his other pursuits. Gary did nothing small, he pursued life with love, laughter, "dad jokes", joy, and a spirit that even in the toughest times was resilient, hopeful, and optimistic. He will be truly missed, but his spirit is indomitable. We love you Gary - husband, father, kuya, uncle, son, friend. Mahal kita.