Harvey Keith Carden

Harvey Keith Carden was born on February 19, 1954 in Portland, Oregon to Floyd and Colleen (Bishop) Carden. He entered the world as a little brother to Mike and the family moved to Orange County, California soon after Keith’s birth. Keith was about ten years old before he knew his first (and official) name was Harvey!  Keith grew up during the wild 60s and 70s which were characterized by such episodes as spending a teenage summer living in a cave and on the beach in Laguna Beach, hitching across the United States with a friend after their moms gave them bus money to visit relatives, and breaking his ankle jumping off a train when the porter told them they better get off before the Arizona border as the authorities would catch them with no tickets at the border! Fortunately, before he got into serious trouble his military uncles steered him into the United States Army and he served in the 82nd Airborne Division for three years and loved jumping out of planes. He was a Vietnam Era Veteran and very proud of serving his country.  After the military he received an Associate Degree in Photography from Cypress College, attended Long Beach State and married Priscilla Gail Mishler in 1983. That union produced a son, Michael Keith, a stepdaughter, Stacy, and a stepson, Max. During those early family years he worked primarily in the construction trades, owning his own small company for some years before being struck down with a then little-known medical condition called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In recent years he had become a fearless warrior attempting to educate the public and the medical profession about the disease while at the same time helping and supporting others with the same condition. He was also an advocate for veterans, especially those with Gulf War Syndrome which shares many characteristics with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  In 2002 he married Nancy Jeanne DeMatio Scally at San Antonio Catholic Church in Anaheim, California and gained two stepsons, Derek Michael Scally and Gregory Shepherd (Kim) Scally and a new grandson, Soren Lam Scally. In 2003 he received the sacraments at San Antonio and became a devout Catholic. He also joined the Knights of Columbus at San Antonio and loved being part of that Brotherhood and all their religious, philanthropic and social activities. He became a Fourth Degree “Sir Knight” in 2016 but his wife, Jeanne, declined to call him “Sir Knight”.  Keith was preceded in death by his parents, Floyd Carden and Colleen Blankenship, and his brother, Mike. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Jeanne; his former wife, Gail Slocumb; his son, Michael; his stepchildren, Stacy (Ralf) Heiss, Max Mishler, Derek Scally, and Greg (Kim) Scally; step grandson Soren Scally; his sister-in-law, Carol Lambert; his stepmother, Evelyn Carden; and his stepfather John (Toni) Blankenship.  The Funeral Mass for Keith will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m., April 18, 2018, at San Antonio Catholic Church located at 5800 Santa Ana Canyon Road in Anaheim Hills.  A vigil and prayer service will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on April 17, 2018 at McAulay & Wallace Mortuary, 18311 Lemon Dr., Yorba Linda, California. He will be interred in Riverside National Cemetery at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Keith’s memory to Open Medicine Foundation (omf.ngo) which funds and initiates research into effective treatments for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other chronic diseases.