Raymond J. Cardin, 91, passed away January 6, 2019. He was the husband of the late Evelyn M. (Iannuccilli) Cardin; son of the late Alfred and Corona (Larosee) Cardin; father of Debra Gouveia and her husband Joseph, Raymond Cardin Jr. and his wife Carolyn, and Bruce Cardin and his husband Peter Kovacik; grandfather of 5; great-grandfather of 7; brother of the late Norman, Paul, Leo and Lucille Cardin, Doris Whiteside and Sr. Rita Cardin.
Ray was born in Central Falls, but moved while he was a young child to North Providence, RI. Along with his parents and six other siblings they lived in a tiny home in the Marieville section of North Providence. As a young man Ray, along with his brothers and following in their father’s footsteps, became an active member of the Knights of Columbus. And like his brothers, Ray volunteered his time at the local volunteer fire station. Throughout his life Ray and his brothers always enjoyed fishing, especially salt water fishing along the beautiful coasts in RI.
Introduced by a mutual friend Ray met and married Evelyn Iannuccilli, from another large family in North Providence. So naturally, they chose North Providence, where most of their siblings also resided, to settle down and raise their family. Ray and Evelyn and their three children enjoyed having their extended families nearby where they could visit frequently. And visit they did! Midweek family visits among the siblings were pretty normal, as well as weekly Sunday afternoon full-family gatherings to grandparents’ homes kept the two large families intact. The women would gather to talk, the children would play outside, and the men, well the men were always playing cards. Every Sunday, as if that wasn’t enough, Ray would also meet a group of brothers-in-law every Wednesday night to play cards at rotating houses. Ray continued his passion for playing cards at his local Senior Citizen Center, where he played in several card leagues and also enjoyed playing pool every day. Amazingly, he continued enjoying both of these hobbies through late December 2018.
Ray has worked as a butcher and meat cutter most of his life. Like his brothers, Ray began as a young man as a helper in a neighborhood butcher shop in the 40’s, later graduating to a meat cutter for First National Stores, a large chain supermarket, where he, like his brothers, worked most of their adult life. In the 70’s Ray and his wife, Evelyn, owned and ran a corner grocery and meat market.
Ray and Evelyn enjoyed some traveling. They ventured to the California coastline, Yellowstone National Park, Nova Scotia, Hawaii, Colorado, Alaska, the Grand Canyon, and many trips with some sisters and brothers-in-law to Las Vegas. Most recently, in June of 2017, at almost 90 years old, Ray attended his son’s wedding in Phoenix, AZ and kept right up with the others in the four day celebrations. But Ray would probably tell you that his favorite trip was when Evelyn and he were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Hilton Head Island, NC, where they took their three children and their families to an oceanfront mansion.
Ray and Evelyn enjoyed being married for 62 years until 2014 when Evelyn passed. Still, Ray continued to live in the same home where they raised their children until fairly recently. Ray has always been a ‘family man’ and loved being with and around his family. Over the years his life has surely been full of many happy family times. It’s the simple things.
Visitation will be held Saturday, from 10-11 a.m. followed by a funeral service at 11 a.m. in the PONTARELLI-MARINO Home, 971 Branch Avenue, Providence. Burial will follow in Highland Memorial Park, Johnston. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the ALS Association, 2374 Post Road, Unit 103, Warwick, RI 02886.
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