Carl O. Caneva

1976 - 2018

Carl O. Caneva

Born: April 19, 1976

Died: June 29, 2018

Carl O. Caneva of Waukegan, IL passed away on June 29, 2018 after a nearly 2-year battle with cancer.

He was born on April 19, 1976 in Joliet, IL, the oldest child of Ron and Lynda Caneva. Carl grew up in Lockport, IL, playing Little League at Dellwood Park, memorizing every line of Star Wars, and loving the Chicago Cubs. He attended Taft Grade School and was a standout both academically and athletically, becoming the Salutatorian and Most Valuable Player for athletics. At Lockport High School, he would continue his strong academics and athletics always making the honor roll and playing center for the LTHS varsity basketball team during the 1992-'93 and 1993-'94 seasons. He graduated from LTHS in 1994 and went to college at Illinois State University to major in Environmental Science.

After graduation, he began his twenty-year career in environmental health in DuPage County as a sanitarian and then later worked with the City of Park Ridge as an environmental health officer. In 2004, he started working at the City of Evanston's Environmental Health Department, and he would eventually become a Division Manager and Assistant Director of the department. He led and collaborated on innovative projects that helped to detect water pollution in Lake Michigan, promote the use of green technology, and expedite restaurant inspections. He also obtained his Masters' Degree from Northeastern University and used that degree to teach geography courses at the College of Lake County after his workday at Evanston.

Carl married Kelly O'Connor in 2004, and they moved to Waukegan shortly after. They have one daughter, Isabelle, who was born in 2007 and who now shares his love for Star Wars and the Cubs. He was an amazing father, husband, son, grandson, brother, and uncle.

Carl is sustained by his family including his daughter, Isabelle; wife, Kelly; parents, Lynda and Ron; sister, Gina; grandfather, Oscar Johnson; uncle, Reno Caneva, uncle, Charlie Johnson; and aunt, Carol Johnson; along with his brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, and cousins. We will make sure that his humor, honesty, compassion, and unbreakable selflessness lives on in all of us and hope to pass it along to others whenever we share a story about him.

A celebration of Carl's life will be planned for friends and family at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, Carl asked all of us to take this next year and think of something good we can do for the world around us. This could mean helping out another person, donating to a cause, or planting a tree.

To know Carl was to know goodness, and he wanted to pass that along to all of us.