1912
Mary
2011
Mary Cardinalli
November 29, 1912 — June 10, 2011
Mary Cardinalli, 98 1/2, of Park Vista Retirement Village, East Moline, passed away peacefully on Friday, June 10, 2011, at Rosewood Care Center, Moline.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, June 17, at Park Vista in East Moline. Burial will be at noon on Friday at Rock Island National Cemetery, with full military honors.
Mary was born Nov. 29, 1912, in Dixon, Ill., the daughter of Steven and Elizabeth Nyeste Pasmandy.
She spent her school years in Silvis and graduated from United Township High School on June 6, 1930. Prior to death, Mary was the oldest living graduate from UTHS. After graduation, Mary worked for Tri City Packaging.
At age 29, Mary's adventuresome spirit took hold and she left for San Francisco to enlist in the United States Marines. Mary served three years and earned the rank of staff sergeant. Mary was very proud of her military service and loved to share her stories. At Park Vista Retirement Community, she was fondly nicknamed "Sarge." Last July 4, Mary proudly led the Park Vista celebration in the national anthem and a front page article in The Dispatch featured her life and military service.
While in San Francisco, she met Vince A. Cardinalli, a deep sea fisherman. They married Oct. 11, 1945, and they enjoyed 30 happy years of marriage. They ran fishing boats in San Francisco Harbor. She and Vince later leased and owned motels in Merced, Calif., Mesa, Ariz., and Socorro, N.M. Mary's military training came in handy as she did everything from running the front desk to making beds to cleaning rooms. Everything was done with military efficiency.
In their retirement years, Vince and Mary pulled a 5th wheeler spending summers in Canada and winters in Mexico, deep sea fishing and enjoying friends in the RV parks.
Mary was a widow for 30 years and remained in Socorro. She was Woman of the Month in 1968, and well known in the community. Her love for playing blackjack in the casinos took her often to Laughlin and Reno.
In 2004, she moved back to the Quad-Cities to be near family. She lived with her niece, Cornelia "Connie." She spent her last years living at Park Vista. Park Vista and Jumer's Casino became two of her favorite places.
She is survived by a niece, Cornelia "Connie" Oleson Rahn, East Moline; a nephew, David Vatt, East Moline; a nephew, Karl Vatt, Mesa. She had eight great-nieces and -nephews, Kris Vatt Wainwright, Sherrard, Claudia Oleson Richards, St. Charles, Ill., Greg Vatt, Mesa, Stewart Oleson, Pacific Palisades, Calif., Debra Vatt Mindrup, East Moline, Dan Vatt, Chattanooga, Tenn., Rick Vatt, Indian Lakes, S.C., and Nancy Vatt Swanberg, Mission Viejo, Calif. She had 15 great-great-nieces and -nephews and one great-great-great-niece.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a sister, Irene; and a sister, Elizabeth Vatt.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, June 17, at Park Vista in East Moline. Burial will be at noon on Friday at Rock Island National Cemetery, with full military honors.
Mary was born Nov. 29, 1912, in Dixon, Ill., the daughter of Steven and Elizabeth Nyeste Pasmandy.
She spent her school years in Silvis and graduated from United Township High School on June 6, 1930. Prior to death, Mary was the oldest living graduate from UTHS. After graduation, Mary worked for Tri City Packaging.
At age 29, Mary's adventuresome spirit took hold and she left for San Francisco to enlist in the United States Marines. Mary served three years and earned the rank of staff sergeant. Mary was very proud of her military service and loved to share her stories. At Park Vista Retirement Community, she was fondly nicknamed "Sarge." Last July 4, Mary proudly led the Park Vista celebration in the national anthem and a front page article in The Dispatch featured her life and military service.
While in San Francisco, she met Vince A. Cardinalli, a deep sea fisherman. They married Oct. 11, 1945, and they enjoyed 30 happy years of marriage. They ran fishing boats in San Francisco Harbor. She and Vince later leased and owned motels in Merced, Calif., Mesa, Ariz., and Socorro, N.M. Mary's military training came in handy as she did everything from running the front desk to making beds to cleaning rooms. Everything was done with military efficiency.
In their retirement years, Vince and Mary pulled a 5th wheeler spending summers in Canada and winters in Mexico, deep sea fishing and enjoying friends in the RV parks.
Mary was a widow for 30 years and remained in Socorro. She was Woman of the Month in 1968, and well known in the community. Her love for playing blackjack in the casinos took her often to Laughlin and Reno.
In 2004, she moved back to the Quad-Cities to be near family. She lived with her niece, Cornelia "Connie." She spent her last years living at Park Vista. Park Vista and Jumer's Casino became two of her favorite places.
She is survived by a niece, Cornelia "Connie" Oleson Rahn, East Moline; a nephew, David Vatt, East Moline; a nephew, Karl Vatt, Mesa. She had eight great-nieces and -nephews, Kris Vatt Wainwright, Sherrard, Claudia Oleson Richards, St. Charles, Ill., Greg Vatt, Mesa, Stewart Oleson, Pacific Palisades, Calif., Debra Vatt Mindrup, East Moline, Dan Vatt, Chattanooga, Tenn., Rick Vatt, Indian Lakes, S.C., and Nancy Vatt Swanberg, Mission Viejo, Calif. She had 15 great-great-nieces and -nephews and one great-great-great-niece.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a sister, Irene; and a sister, Elizabeth Vatt.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Mary Cardinalli, please visit our flower store.
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