Charles Carpenter, Jr.

Charles Orvall Carpenter, Jr. was born in St. Joseph, Missouri on April 8, 1928, to Charles Orvall Carpenter, Sr. and Ethel May Hutchens Carpenter.  He died December 5, 2021.

His family moved to Kansas City, Missouri when he was about 6 years old.  He graduated from Northeast High School in 1945.

He attended Independence Boulevard Christian Church where he met and married Phyllis Jean McDade on January 21, 1949.  The had two children, Edie, and Dave.  Phyllis died on May 1, 1994.

Charlie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1947.  He was called to active duty in 1950 during the Korean affair, and served as a Classification Specialist in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.  He was discharged in October 1951 with the rank of Sergeant.  Charlie was a member of the Korean War Veterans Association.

His earliest ambition was to be a journalist and studied toward that end in High School.  However, working one summer vacation in a Print Shop changed his ambition.  He worked in every phase of printing, from hand setting type to running every type of printing machine, to Plant Manager, and Owner of a small printing company.  He was a member of the Kansas City Printing House Craftsmen Club for over 33 years, serving as president in 1964-65.  He sold Printing Supplies for 3 years and sold heavy Printing Equipment for Baumfolder Corporation for 17 years, achieving National Salesman of the Year in 1974 and again in 1983.  He retired in 1988, and became a licensed Stockbroker, but liked retirement too much to really work at it.

Charlie loved to travel.  During his 20 years in sales, he drove over a million miles in his 4-state area.  He and Phyllis traveled the Untied States, from California to Florida, and to England, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Italy, four of the Hawaiian Islands, Spain, North Africa, Nassau, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Acapulco.

He had many hobbies.  He had a full woodworking shop where he made wooden puzzles for all the children in the neighborhood, and anything his family or neighbors wanted.  He designed and built his own Computer and taught himself its operation.  Then he designed and built a computer for each of his children.  He enjoyed music, both listening to all types and playing the organ.  His love of reading caused his library to grow to several hundred volumes.  On those rare occasions when he had time, he liked to go fishing and just be in the outdoors.  He rang the Salvation Army bell at Christmas for years.

His greatest love was people – visiting with family and friends and doing little things for each of them to make their lives a little easier and better.  His second love was questioning and studying the How and Why of everything in the universe.  His thirst for knowledge was never quenched.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his two sisters, Lola Belle Bollin and Alberta Jourdan.  He was also preceded in death by his grandson, Nick Larson in 2006.  He is survived by his two children – Dave (Donna) Carpenter and Edie (Brian) Larson.  He is also survived by 3 grandchildren; Jason Carpenter, Trey Carpenter and Sara Larson and 3 great grandchildren; Kainoa Larson, Zoe Carpenter and Faye Carpenter.

Memorials in his honor can be made to Village Presbyterian Food Pantry.