Derek John Santos

Derek John Santos beloved, husband and father, passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm on April 29, 2026 at the age of 49. He was born on March 12, 1977 in Turlock, California to John and Susan Santos. He lived in Hilmar, CA where he competed and excelled in team roping and he was a master showman with his Hereford cattle. Derek learned to work hard from a young age and loved farming and ranching alongside his father and his family. This was a core value that he would carry for the rest of his life and he passed down to his children.

Derek was a man of many passions, he loved all things hunting, bowfishing and being outdoors. He was an excellent hunter and houndsman. He raised incredible Treeing Walker Coon Hounds and spent years chasing them through the mountains hunting bear. Arizona was his playground where he stalked Coues deer and javalina with his bow and his “brothers” for 30 plus years. When he wasn’t hunting you could find him in the praça grabbing bulls with the forcçados and doing all things Portuguese.

Derek and Colby were set up on blind date by a good friend in 2008 and fell quickly in love and started a life together in Hilmar, CA. They welcomed their first child, Alexander John Santos, in January of 2010 in Hilmar, CA. Big Al became a big brother in August of 2014 when Connor Gregory Santos was born, an answer to a long time prayer.

Derek worked incredibly hard in California to establish himself as an elite farmer and mechanic. In 2016 he decided to have a new adventure and he and the family packed up and moved to Twin Falls, Idaho. Derek instantly made his mark on his new town, ingraining himself in the farming community and the archery community. In 2017 Derek and Colby welcomed their own little Idaho potato, Rachel Josephine Marie Santos and their family was complete. The family moved to Kimberly, ID the following year and have made their lives there in a town they love so dearly.

Derek was larger than life and made a friend everywhere he went. You could hear him before you could see him and you always knew where you stood with him. He was hilarious and made the world laugh!

Derek is preceded in death by his grandparents Tony and Hazel Santos (Hilmar, CA) and Raymond and Doris Dias (Hughson, CA) as well as his parents John and Susan Santos (Hilmar, CA).

He is survived by his wife Colby Yeager and children, Alexander, Connor and Rachel (all of Kimberly, ID), his sister Corinne Santos (Oakdale, CA) , Aunt Sandra Dias (Hughson, CA), brother in-law Jake Yeager and nephews, Lucas, Nathan and Matthew (all of Lockeford, CA) and a multitude of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.