Patrick Willis Carney

     Patrick W. Carney (Pat) was born into a family of the greatest generation, a baby boomer himself, knew life of a loving family in small town rural America. From saving a life at a young age the young boy started to shape the man he would become; with family, friendships and sports such as basketball, football, baseball, and track, he always excelled.

     After starting high school in Aurora, MO, as a Bulldog, and finishing his Senior Year in Santa Ana, California, he enlisted in the Delayed Entry Program (D.E.P) while still in High School. After graduation he shipped out to Boot camp for the United States Navy. He often joked that he burned his draft card while in boot camp. Pat began his career in the Navy in June 1967. He said he went to “Danang University”; this was his way to make levity out of the horrors of war, having served three tours in Vietnam. Two tours of duty on Destroyers and one on River Patrol Boats. He came home to later finish that career through the Cold War on Submarines, Tenders, and more Destroyers to retire in August of 1988 as a Machinist Mate Master Chief Surface Warfare and Submarine Service (MMCM/SW/SS).

     During his formative years in the Navy he met and married the love of his life Anna M. (LaSorte) Carney of Devon, MT, when asked, what where Pat’s first words to her, they replied, “he Said, I’m going to marry you! It took a bit of coaxing but his beautiful bride finally said, “Yes”, and they were married November 10, 1967. This marriage would last the test of a life time, including two wars for over 50 years; they stood by each other’s creating a family and love story for the ages.

     During Pat’s lifetime he wasn’t “just a” Sailor and husband. He tried his hand at many things, Cowboy, Salesman, Janitor, Horse Racing, Security Guard, Coach, and Student. These odd moonlighting jobs were often done together with Anna to support and fuel the need as a provider for his other titles as Husband and Father. The two of them worked hard to raise their two children, Michael and Colleen. I mentioned Coach because Baseball would become a big part of their lives. Transferring from duty station to duty station it all brought a sense of normalcy to a nomadic way of life.

     Still a young man after retiring from the U.S. Navy and having studied business in college he looked to find another career. He didn’t have to look far; his son. Mike showed him a way to join up again as friends and cowboys and together they learned to be long haul truckers. They together with Anna would eventually parlay this job into a thriving business they thought it was paradise and with all good things you have to take a gamble. This reinvention would be called Pair-O-Dice Trucking.

     Eventually this hard fought lifestyle would take its toll, and Pat would have to settle down and take care of himself as well as reinvent himself again.

     He would move on to work a few more odd jobs locally while studying to be an accountant and tax preparer as well as becoming a grandfat6her 5 times over. He and Mike focused on their Masonic work both reaching 32^nd degrees and leadership positions in the lodge. He was finally home where he and his wife would prove their love and friendship and live together for more than short periods between deployments in the Navy or turnarounds while trucking, enjoying one another and their Golden Years.

     Recently, last November, he and Anna celebrated 50 years of marriage and to cap it off their oldest granddaughter was delivered of a son and their first great grandchild aka: Little Guy! Papa Pat was thrilled!

     I guess all good things must come to an end, some say it would seem way too soon, just three short months after meeting his great grandson; a man later described by his children and grandchildren, as “The Man, The Myth, The Legend!” would succumb to the same heart problem that took his mother Marie Carney in 2000 and his sister Linda (Carney) Young, just twelve days prior. The God fearing man’s love of family was himself hospitalized and unable to go to his sister, we believe this broke his heart. Pat went to be with the Lord on May 30, 2018. He was just 70 years old.

     He is preceded in death by his wife; Anna M. (LaSorte) Carney; Children; son, Michael L. Carney (Barnesville, OH), Daughter-in-law (Angela) Carney; Daughter, Colleen Marie (Carney) Tucker (Kingston, WA), Son-in-Law (Thomas) Tucker; Grandchildren: Natasha [ m. Joe Pendergraft], Nicholas, Reba Carney, Natalia and Nickyle Tucker; Great Grandson; Caspian (3 Months). Also the family and friends he held so dear.

     He is proceeded in death by Father, Leonard Carney, Mother, Marie Carney, and sister, Linda Young (Recently Deceased)

     In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: The American Heart Association. Thank you!

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