“My best memory of my step dad would be when we were at the El Cajon Race Track. I was totally uncomfortable with the event. My dad had always introduced me as ‘Ricky’. But one day he introduced me as his son. Saying that I was his son in that environment offered me protection, I guess. And he started introducing me as his son from then on. ‘This is my son, Ricky.’ And from then on, I knew that he was my dad.”

“I always keep a picture of my dad with me. I think some of the finest memories are that he loved to fish. He always took me with him. I have 12 brothers and sisters. But I was one of only, like, two that he always took with him. He taught me everything I could possibly want to know about fishing. Especially about catfish. He loved catfish. He taught us how to catch them. And how to get them off the hook. With catfish, see, you never want to put your hand in their mouth.”

“Friendship, loyalty and love. This is the symbol of the Irish claddagh ring and this is how I would describe my father. Anyone he met was his friend. When he set his mind on something he saw it through to the end and most of all, he had a great sense of value of the bond between family. My father passed away in 1992, at the age of 54, but in his short life he was a sports legend in his home town, an older brother to nine siblings, a beloved husband, a father of three and, most of all, a friend to all who knew him. If he were alive today, I know he would be there coaching and cheering me on both in sports and in life.”

— Jim Costello, commissioner, Open Division, America’s Finest City Softball League

“The most wonderful memory I have of my dad is that every kid wanted to have my father as their father. He was funny, playful and loved every child. At his funeral, there were more children than there were adults – and there were a lot of adults. Any time there was a kid in trouble, they went to my dad. And I always thought I was the luckiest girl in the world because I was his little girl and he loved me.”

“My father died a few years ago of Alzheimer’s and so the recent [Ronald ] Reagan passing brought back that memory. Especially looking at Nancy Reagan’s eyes and seeing the pain my mom went through. And really the memories and the politics of it, too. It was interesting because I got my politics from the dinner table. My father engaged me in politics of the day, in our world and current events. I actually got my activism and my interest in politics through my father. I will always be grateful for that. We weren’t close, because of my being gay, and it was hard for him to accept, being the traditional Latino conservative person, but I will always be grateful to him for getting my interest raised in politics as a little boy.”

— Nicole Murray-Ramirez, city commissioner, founder of the Imperial Court de San Diego and GLT features editor

“My dad always knew how to make me smile. I remember when I came out and I was totally terrified. I was literally shaking there, apologizing over and over. And my dad knew that I was super stressed. So he said, ‘Oh, is that it? I thought you were going to say you were pregnant’!”

— DJ Venesse