Daughter seeks neighbors’ help for dying father's burial

Valley Stream resident Carmine DeVito went to Franklin Hospital in June with some pain and difficulty moving his legs. He was diagnosed with metastatic bladder cancer and told he had only a few months to live. As he waits for the end, his daughter is trying to raise money to pay for his burial.

“He’s numb, and he’s crying a lot,” said Michelle DeVito, 32, of Lynbrook.

She doesn’t know if her father will make it to his 59th birthday on Dec. 16, but said she hopes so. She said she’s “been sick over this.”

Michelle had a cancer scare last year. She was getting painful stomachaches until she saw a doctor and they found a lesion on her kidney. She had surgery, and the cancerous cells were successfully removed.

In Carmine’s case, the disease started in his bladder and spread to his liver, then his bones. Now, four months after he learned something was wrong, the cancer has taken over so much of his body that it has manifested in a lesion on his face.

Carmine refused chemotherapy, not wanting to live his last days suffering through devastating side effects. After driving a taxi in Valley Stream for almost 30 years, he had no savings or insurance to cover his mounting expenses. His daughter started a GoFundMe page to raise money for his rent and other bills, which brought in just over $4,000. Those funds have been mostly depleted as Carmine’s health has declined, with his hospice nurses trying to make him as comfortable as possible in his Stephen Place home.

“He’s waiting in his room, literally, to die,” Michelle said.

Born in Brooklyn, Carmine moved to Valley Stream in 1964. He was the drummer for the local band Honey in the 1970s and ’80s, and most recently played with the band Broken Dreams in Lynbrook.

Michelle, an office manager for an environmental laboratory, said that her father’s final wish is to be buried next to his parents in Calvary Cemetery, in Queens. The funeral and associated costs are expected to run about $10,000, she said, which she can’t afford.

To pay for it, Michelle is holding a fundraiser this Saturday at Charlie Meany’s, in Valley Stream, from 2 to 5 p.m. She said her goal was to attract at least 100 people. Admission is $10 and includes food. Drink and raffle tickets will be sold, with gift cards and other prizes donated by several local businesses.

Businesses willing to donate or people looking for more information can call Michelle at (516) 234-2292 or email her at mdevito1982@gmail.com.

“I honestly didn’t know what to do,” she said, “but try and get the town he’s lived in his whole life to get involved.”