North Carolina mayor thanks community for its support during his dad’s final days
Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney thanked the community for its support after he took a several-week leave of absence to be with his dying father.
Robert Joseph Carney Sr. of Hickory died Tuesday, Chris Carney said that night on Facebook. He was 77 and had been in hospice care.
“Thanks to the love shared by so many of you over the past few weeks, I was able to take a little breather from work to spend as much quality time as possible with my dad and our family,” Chris Carney said on Facebook.
“It meant so much to me that you all understood and supported my need for time, but it means even more to me now,” Carney said.
His dad spent the past few weeks “surrounded by all of us who loved him so much and valued him and his influence in our lives,” Chris Carney, a former state senator and Mooresville town commissioner, said in his social media post.
“Building final memories” with dad
Carney included family photos with his post. Chris Carney’s brother, Robert Carney, is a Cornelius town commissioner.
The mayor took his medical leave of absence in October, after the death of a close family friend and his father being placed in hospice care, Mooresville commissioner and mayor pro tem Eddie Dingler said at a Board of Commissioners meeting, The Charlotte Observer previously reported .
“Thank you all again, from the bottom of my heart, for graciously and patiently giving me the past few weeks to build final memories of and with my dad,” Chris Carney wrote in his Facebook post on Tuesday.
Bone marrow donation saved his sister’s life
Robert Carney Sr. was an active member of the Knights of Columbus service organization at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Hickory and later joined Christ Church in Mountain View, according to his obituary.
“An avid flashlight and pocket knife collector and a lover of telling jokes, Bob also enjoyed watching movies and spoiling his grandchildren with milkshakes,” his family wrote in his obituary.
A private service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at Cavin-Cook Funeral Home in Mooresville. A public reception will follow the service from 2 to 4 p.m. at Cavin-Cook, 494 E. Plaza Drive.
Robert Carney Sr. was an avid blood donor who also donated his bone marrow to save the life of his sister, Penny, his family said. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that blood or monetary donations be made to the American Red Cross at www.redcross.org.
This story was originally published November 16, 2024 at 1:36 PM.