Friends Remember Motorcyclist Killed in Aliso Viejo Crash

Friends of 20-year-old Xabier Desasia, an Aliso Viejo resident who died Saturday night after a motorcycle crash, remember him for his kind soul and smile.

“X never lifted a finger against anyone, not even a bug. He was the most peaceful person I’ve ever met and a great friend to everyone,” said Michael Gulling, friend and schoolmate.

“He was my son’s best friend. [We] loved seeing his smile when he came over,” said John Gulling, Michael’s father.

Three months ago Desasia began training as a boat mechanic at So Cal Ship Services, a vessel support company for Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors.  Mark Wrobel, general manager for So Cal Ship Services said he had only known Desasia for three months, but was impressed by him.

“He was such a cool kid with a young soul. He was very eager to learn. This is a tough industry, but all of these tough sailor kind of guys took a liking to him,” Wrobel said.

So Cal Ship Services held a moment of silence for Desasia where, “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” he said.

Desasia was living in a company apartment in San Pedro. On Tuesday, Wrobel cleared out his belongings. As he spoke with Patch, he was driving with Desasia’s possessions in the backseat of his car.

Wrobel said the company plans to hold a fleet-wide moment of silence on the day of the funeral.

Desasia’s fellow employees left the following comments on the Patch article covering the accident.

“My condolence goes out to Xabier's family I got the chance to work with him at So Cal he was a sweet guy and definitely will be missed!”

“X! May you rest in heaven my friend, you will be missed here at work, from all of us in engineering. Ruben, Mike, Valin, John once again farewell "X"... my prayers to your family...”