In death, Carson City man brings home to three families

At 10 years old, Kendall McVey knows little about life.

But on Sunday afternoon, more than a 150 people felt what he knew about death.

"I should have called him sooner," a heartbroken Kendall said during the memorial service for his Uncle Casey Cardinale at North Sails Nevada in Minden.

The world leader in sailmaking stopped production for two hours to accommodate the mourners.

His hands shoved into his pockets, Kendall tearfully said that on Tuesday night, he thought of his uncle, wanting to call him and ask him about words to a song the two were working on.

"But it was 10 o'clock, and I thought I'd just call him in the morning. Then my mom woke me up at about 3 and said something was wrong with his brain."

In the early morning hours Wednesday, Cardinale, 23, awoke in excruciating pain.

As his fiancee, Sarah Henderson, and brother Rocky Cardinale rushed him to Carson-Tahoe Hospital, a few blocks from their Carson City home, Cardinale only said one thing, "Hurry."

Cardinale suffered a brain aneurysm and was pronounced dead that evening.

After his death, Cardinale's family decided to do what they knew he would have done.

A 3-year-old girl received part of his liver, a 30-year-old received his lungs and a 50-year-old man got Cardinale's heart.

"I can't wait to be able to write him," said Cardinale's mother, Debbie.

"I know (Casey) is so big-hearted, that if he could, he would help," Cardinelli said of the decision to donate his son's organs.

Brother-in-law Dan McVey said the whole family was involved in the decision. Anyone who didn't agree realized it was right after they looked at it from another point of view.

"I said, 'If (Casey) needed a transplant, you'd do what you could, right? Well, there are families out there waiting for a miracle,'" McVey said.

Cardinale was the recipients' miracle.

Cardinale had big plans.

He and Henderson were to be married Aug. 30. He'd just started a new job, after four years with North Sails, working for Western Nevada Supply. He was anxious to drive the "big trucks," said his father, Michael Cardinelli.

A friend told the crowd of mourners that all Cardinale had talked about was searching for Big Foot over the summer.

He played the piano, the keyboard and guitar, and passed along his musical savvy to his nieces and nephews. He was teaching Kendall a song the two had written.

Nephew Kevin had just received a drum set from Casey and Rocky Cardinale.

"We were twins," said Rocky Cardinale of his younger brother. The two were separated by two years, but that's where the separation ended.

"Wherever one goes, you see the other," said Michael Cardinelli.

Always smiling and willing to pitch in, Cardinale was loved by many, respected by all.

"I don't think he could ever make an enemy," a co-worker said.

Cardinale is also survived by his sisters Kelly, Daffany, Bernadette, Jessica and Shawna; and brother Anthony; five uncles, three aunts; and nine nieces and nephews.

Kelly, the oldest of the children, said her brother was always smiling.

"He was my baby brother," she said. "There's a little bit of him in all of us. And I like to think he was the best of us."

BREAKOUT:

To help offset medical and funeral expenses, a fund has been set up in Casey Cardinale's name.

Casey Cardinale Fund

Account Number 7153450544

Wells Fargo Bank