Hundreds of family members and friends filled a west Evanston church Friday morning to remember Cardereon Preister, recalling his upbeat attitude and contagious smile.
“Cardereon gave a little bit of sunshine to everybody,” said uncle Corey Preister at his slain nephew’s funeral service.
Cardereon Preister, 21, was fatally shot Sept. 10 outside his home in the 1700 block of Leland Avenue. The service at Christ Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 1711 Simpson St., came the morning after police announced they have charged an Evanston teen with killing Cardereon Preister.
(Updated: Man fatally shot near ETHS)
Cardereon Preister, born Dec. 2, 1991, grew up in Evanston and attended Evanston Township High School.
He was the first child of three — “his mother’s bouncing baby boy,” according to a funeral program.
The program described Cardereon Preister as a “positive person to the young and old,” especially children. He had a newborn daughter and another one on the way, the program said.
Fred Hunter, principal of Lincolnwood Elementary School, recalled talking to Cardereon Preister this summer while the new dad held his baby.
“It was such a joy in which he desired for a change in his life,” Hunter said.
Before Cardereon Preister was a father, though, family friend Joyce Woods said she watched him grow into a “loving, funny” young man who charmed every woman he met.
“He worked hard, he played hard and he loved hard,” said Woods, who has known the Preisters for more than 20 years.
A few speakers acknowledged that police have arrested Matthew Dubose, 18, in connection with Cardereon Preister’s shooting death. The two men clashed over a botched deal earlier this summer, according to police.
(Evanston teen charged in Cardereon Preister’s shooting death)
The Rev. Kenneth Cherry said Dubose’s arrest is no reason to celebrate.
“They charged a young man, but nobody won,” Cherry said. “That family is in turmoil just like this one.”
The speakers told everyone to pray for victims of gun violence in the 5th Ward community. During the service, another group of family members and friends was grieving for Sem Adrien, 26, an Evanston man who was shot to death in Kansas a day before Cardereon Preister was killed.
Despite the recent rash of gun violence involving Evanston men, the speakers struck a hopeful note while memorializing Cardereon Preister.
“He didn’t leave us,” Corey Preister said. “He’s just got closer to us because now he’s embedded in our hearts.”
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PatrickSvitek
