Family and friends packed a Carson City funeral home Tuesday to honor a man who had an "infectious" way of loving life and an unforgettable smile.
"As we now remember Al - his generous deeds, his warm companionship and his patient endurance - the good we remember in his life can be translated into kindness. What a legacy for anyone to leave," said Rev. Gail Linsley of the Church of Religious Science who along with her husband Rev. Gil Linsley officiated the hour-long service at Walton's Chapel of the Valley on Roop Street. "This service today is one of celebration and one of memories. We do not focus our attention on that fact that he died, but rather that he lived,"
Alan Noel Chorkey, 50, died in a Feb. 10 attack in his Johnson Lane-area home. His wife Lorelle survived the attack and is in serious condition at a Reno hospital.
Ten years ago the two were married at Lampe Park in Douglas County. As he took on a bride, Chorkey also became step-father to four girls.
"They say that time flies when your having fun and considering his past 10 years they must have rocketed by," said 18-year-old Alane Docxstader, his youngest step-daughter. "Thank you Al for showing me a whole different path and my mother a whole different life."
Rev. Gail described the Chorkeys as best friends.
"Anyone who saw the two of them together knew that Mom had found a match and we were blessed with his love," another daughter said choking back tears. "We kind of took his optimism for granted."
A neighbor recalled Chorkey rollerblading along his street, his dog chasing him or the Chorkeys riding bikes together.
"There was nothing that lit up your life like Al's smile," she said. "I don't know what I am going to do without Al. The street's not going to be the same."
Chorkey grew up in Michigan, moving to Nevada in his teens, Gail Linsley said. He owned and operated Al's Screen Service, a screen door repair and replacement business on Sage Street in Carson City.
"Al's whole face was a smile. He loved to do anything and everything he could possibly do outdoors and he loved especially sharing it with his beloved Lorelle," she said.
Linsley spoke of Chorkey's dreams to one day own property in Mexico or in the Nevada desert where he and his wife would live self-sufficiently.
"He was deeply loved and he will be sorely missed," she said.
He is survived by his wife, Lorelle of Minden; his mother Julieanne of Wyandotte; his brothers Andrew of Largo, Fla., Thomas and Damian both of Wyandotte; sisters Yvonne Grams of Flat Rock, Mich. and Mary Chorkey-Kefalas of Seminole, Fla.; step-daughters Kyla Shuman of Seattle; Reve Shuman of Portland, Ore., Amber Docxstader of Gardnerville and Alane Docxstader of Minden; seven nephews and one niece; eight great-grand-nephews and nieces and one on the way.
Sixty people attended a church memorial for Chorkey Feb. 16 in Michigan.
An account to aid the family of Alan Chorkey of Johnson Lane has been set up at Bank of America. Those wishing to help the family can send money to the: Lorelle Chorkey Family Donation Account No. 004965462161 at any Bank of America branch.