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A touching and beautiful program handed out to attendees at the memorial service for Wil, held at 11am on Friday September 1rst, at the Arcadia Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Phoenix, Arizona.  

The program was assembled by long-time friend Scott O'neil with input from Wil's amazing family and friends.  

Individual tributes from Wil's immediate family follow below.......

Wil Cardon, 46, died Saturday, August 26, 2017.  Wil loved his family deeply, particularly his devoted wife, Nicole, and their five beautiful children.  This world never seemed large enough to contain his emotions, both high and low.  And the world is a narrower, dimmer place today for his loss. 

Wil was a husband and was eternally grateful for Nicole’s love and support throughout their 24 years of marriage. He was a father, and nothing brought him more joy than being with his children. He was a scholar, having earned his diploma from Mountain View in Mesa, his BA from Stanford and his MBA from Harvard.  He was an athlete, playing as an all-state wide receiver for Mountain View (1986 state champions), as well as for both Lavell Edwards at BYU and Bill Walsh at Stanford.  And he was an accomplished businessman who, despite his claims that he was just a humble dirt peddler, leveraged his unbound energy and talent for bringing people together to successfully grow the family business. 

The essence of Wil was his incredible passion.  He was a force of nature, a man of large appetites and an even greater capacity to love.  His booming laughter regularly announced his larger-than-life presence.  Never have his friends known anyone as persuasive, as intense or as caring as “Uncle Wil.”  His bear hugs were legendary, though sometimes dangerous. He was a man of incredible strength who loved to laugh, joke and play, and who refused to take no for an answer.

He was undaunted if your desire for adventure did not match his own, as he used his powers of persuasion to relentlessly encourage all to join him.  Rarely, but sometimes spectacularly, were those adventures regretted, whether they were late-night food runs or Las Vegas wedding chapel costume parties.

Wil loved to rub shoulders with politicians, athletes and celebrities. But he was just as likely to be found speaking Portuguese with first-generation immigrants, arguing with them about the best way to cook feijouda, asking about their families and sharing with them his boundless enthusiasm.  He had a remarkable ability to form lifelong friendships within minutes of meeting someone.  He loved so many people and was loved in return.

Wil was driven in large part by his faith in Jesus Christ and by his love of fellow men.  He served in many volunteer capacities, raising money for charities such as the Cardon Children’s Medical Center, serving faithfully as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Portugal and in various other church callings. His generosity seemed unbounded by physical restraints, regularly displaying a willingness to offer great personal sacrifice to help those in need. He was a powerful witness of Jesus Christ and sought to share his faith throughout his life, unashamed of his beliefs. 

In addition to his family, Wil was dedicated to his friends and loyal to those who he felt were loyal to him.  He had varied interests, loving to share his zeal for the latest technology, his newest playlist, a newly discovered YouTube video or the dozens of books he was reading but never seemed to finish.  He loved Arizona, where he grew up.  He loved Brazil, where he lived as a teenager. He was interested in people rather than being interesting and was genuine in his efforts to care, share and bare the burdens of his neighbors.  Once Wil started laughing, there seemed to be no way to not forget your pain and laugh right along with him.  If ever you believed you were incapable of completing a task, Wil wouldn’t let go until you believed in yourself as much as he did. 

But tragically, the one person whom Wil could not cajole, badger, encourage and persuade into self-belief was himself.  While Wil experienced the highest of highs, he increasingly was plagued by his struggles with depression and descended more regularly over the past decade into the lowest of lows.  He was open and honest about his difficulties and tried desperately to overcome this debilitating illness.  His wife, his children and his friends loved him to the end, when finally the pain became too much for him.  We have hope that he has found the peace that eluded him here on earth.  And we pray that when we meet again on that beautiful shore, he will be waiting to greet his family with that giant smile, his legendary bear hug, his overwhelming enthusiasm and, most especially, with his contagious laughter.

Wil is survived by his wife, Nicole; his five children, Rebecca, Bo, Parley, Ruby and Scarlett; his parents, Wilford and Phyllis; and by his seven siblings, Rachel (Ryan), Cody (Shelly), Deise (Craig), Patrick (Kastle), Natalie (Jeremiah), Veronica (David) and Luch.  The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Operation Underground Railroad, ourrescue.org, reference “Cardon family children in loving memory of their father.”  Services to celebrate Wil’s life will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 1 at the LDS Chapel, Arcadia Building, 4225 N. 56th Street, Phoenix, AZ.  We love you forever and for always Wil. 

A memorial webpage has been created for Wil’s family and friends at http://wil-cardon.forevermissed.com/.

 

(Submitted by Tagg Romney on 8/29/17)
(Background song "Behind the Waterfall" by David Lanz, was mentioned by Wil and Nicole's eldest daughter, Rebecca, as it was one of Wil's favorite tunes.)