August 21, 1947 �" March 16, 2016
Our community lost a kind and caring man when Dennis Piper lost his lengthy and valiant battle against pancreatic cancer. Born in Maryland to the late Betty and Leslie Piper, Dennis was the second of seven children. His sisters Jeanne, Michelle, Sandra, and Vanessa, and brothers Brian and Dwayne survive him. He also leaves the two greatest joys of his life: his son Kim, and grandson Nikolai, both residing in Denmark.
Dennis had a special affinity for art: professionally, as a production manager at UCSF, and personally, as a member of San Francisco's Fine Arts Museums. He would share his artistic talents, occasionally gifting a friend with a piece he would paint in his own small studio at home.
Over his many years in San Francisco, Dennis had two lengthy and devoted relationships. He lost Ed Paul, his first partner of over 15 years, to AIDS in the mid-1990s. Ernesto "Sonny" Padilla, a widely known musician and songwriter, passed in 2007.
Besides the many whose paths Dennis crossed in life, he leaves a small, extended family of very close friends: Daniel Stingle and Isaiah Carter, Rich Nyhagen, Michael Polansky, Scott Peterson and Jim Fleming, and Mario Torrigino.
Rest in peace, my friend. While you were taken far too soon, you lived your life as a true gentleman and left your stamp on all our hearts.