Marcos Vincent Tapia

Marcos was born on 8-5-74 in Bellflower, CA. and passed away peacefully in his sleep 3-15-16 in Orting, WA at 41 years old. He is survived by his mother Theresa Tapia (Tacoma); father Richard L. Tapia (Orting); brothers Todd Tapia (Beaverton, OR), Richard W. Tapia (Tina) (Spanaway), Rene Tapia (Carnation), and Joseph Tapia (Renton); 12 nephews and nieces; and numerous extended family members and friends. MEMORIAL SERVICE to be held at 11AM Saturday, April 9, 2016 at Champions Centre chapel, 1819 E. 72nd St., Tacoma, WA. 98404. Marcos was 4 years old when he moved with his family to Carnation, WA, where he attended Cherry Valley Elementary and Tolt Jr. High. At the age of 13 the family moved to Puyallup where he attended Ballou Jr. High and graduated from Rogers High School in 1992. He attended Bates Technical College for 1 year. Marcos was active in sports when he lived in Carnation. He played T-ball, baseball, basketball, wrestling, and also, his favorite sport, football. He played guard and tackle positions most of the time and excelled during the games at running ahead of and protecting his older brother who was the half-back of the team. While he attended high school, Marcos developed a passion for cars. He started tinkering with cars and liked to learn how to work on the engines. Marcos had a Chevelle that he was proud of; he loved driving and working on it. He also built a racing motor and enjoyed accomplishing that task. Later on he experienced the thrill, for a short time, of racing a car at Spanaway Speedway. His enjoyment of cars was undeniable. He always enjoyed going to car shows, and spotting and naming sweet cars on the road, especially muscle cars. As he got older, he employed his problem solving skills to building roof trusses, and later, as a heavy equipment mechanic. Marcos enjoyed socializing with family and friends. He loved to lighten a mood or conversation by interjecting funny phrases or noises. He was a notorious cheese lover, and was well known for one of his favorite sayings, Are we mice or men!? But I like cheese! We will miss you. Marcos ever ready smile, quick wit, and contagious funny spirit will be greatly missed by all his family and friends.