Photo: LHS Reunion golf outing July 2019. Chuck is in blue polo and white shorts (4th from left)
Obituary for Charles A. Carpenter,
Jr.
July 18, 1956 - May 3, 2020
Cleveland, Ohio | Age 63
Cleveland, Ohio | Age 63
Loving Husband, Father and Grandfather
Charles A. Carpenter, Jr.
At Lakewood's Horace Mann Junior High in 1970, every interested boy could join the Purple Pups football team. But when they started handing out helmets, they ran out before they got to a last-place, skinny kid named Chuck Carpenter. So his dad bought him a close substitute at Uncle Bills. A set of free weights and some mom-made peanut-butter milkshakes later, and Charlie became a varsity starter who was All Lake Erie League—Offense AND Defense, and was also a starter in basketball, baseball, and track, and even got a full, four-year ride to college to play football! With the help of his mom's rebounding, Charlie could make nine out of ten free throw shots blindfolded.
Every kid on the bench needs to hear the Charlie Carpenter story. Hollywood makes movies about underdogs like Charlie, and actors can only pretend to be the kind of faith-filled overcomer Charlie was and is.
On Sunday, May 3rd, 63 yr. old Charlie was working in the yard with his wife Dana of 17 years and suddenly collapsed and died of heart failure. In addition to his much-beloved wife, Dana (nee Edman), Charlie is survived by his three sons, Charles III (Cassie), Brian, and Daniel, and a granddaughter Olivia (daughter of Charles III), his father, Charles A. Carpenter Sr., and his sister Kimberley Moore (Edward), brother Scott Carpenter (Nanette Yannuzzi), and sister Laura Nelson (Peter), as well as many nephews and nieces and seven great-nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his mother, Janet M. Carpenter (nee Kapl).
Charlie became an LPN in a mid-life career change and became the favorite of his nursing home residents wherever he worked. He and his wife even prayed for his patients, and such was his deep and sincere care for them.
He joined his wife Dana, an ordained EPC minister, in a long-running inner-city mission she began in 1995 —The Isaiah Project, volunteering tirelessly and working alongside her to bring the transforming power of the Gospel to inner-city youth.
Charlie loved home projects. One of his first dates with Dana was fixing the plumbing in her apartment. (That's a keeper, right?) Last year Charlie and Dana bought a large, somewhat neglected home on Cleveland's west side and began transforming it. Charlie, true to his Carpenter genes, rebuilt the entire first floor and was starting on the second and attic levels when God called him home. Everything and everyone he touched was way better off when Charlie stepped in--even his house.
At Lakewood's Horace Mann Junior High in 1970, every interested boy could join the Purple Pups football team. But when they started handing out helmets, they ran out before they got to a last-place, skinny kid named Chuck Carpenter. So his dad bought him a close substitute at Uncle Bills. A set of free weights and some mom-made peanut-butter milkshakes later, and Charlie became a varsity starter who was All Lake Erie League—Offense AND Defense, and was also a starter in basketball, baseball, and track, and even got a full, four-year ride to college to play football! With the help of his mom's rebounding, Charlie could make nine out of ten free throw shots blindfolded.
Every kid on the bench needs to hear the Charlie Carpenter story. Hollywood makes movies about underdogs like Charlie, and actors can only pretend to be the kind of faith-filled overcomer Charlie was and is.
On Sunday, May 3rd, 63 yr. old Charlie was working in the yard with his wife Dana of 17 years and suddenly collapsed and died of heart failure. In addition to his much-beloved wife, Dana (nee Edman), Charlie is survived by his three sons, Charles III (Cassie), Brian, and Daniel, and a granddaughter Olivia (daughter of Charles III), his father, Charles A. Carpenter Sr., and his sister Kimberley Moore (Edward), brother Scott Carpenter (Nanette Yannuzzi), and sister Laura Nelson (Peter), as well as many nephews and nieces and seven great-nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his mother, Janet M. Carpenter (nee Kapl).
Charlie became an LPN in a mid-life career change and became the favorite of his nursing home residents wherever he worked. He and his wife even prayed for his patients, and such was his deep and sincere care for them.
He joined his wife Dana, an ordained EPC minister, in a long-running inner-city mission she began in 1995 —The Isaiah Project, volunteering tirelessly and working alongside her to bring the transforming power of the Gospel to inner-city youth.
Charlie loved home projects. One of his first dates with Dana was fixing the plumbing in her apartment. (That's a keeper, right?) Last year Charlie and Dana bought a large, somewhat neglected home on Cleveland's west side and began transforming it. Charlie, true to his Carpenter genes, rebuilt the entire first floor and was starting on the second and attic levels when God called him home. Everything and everyone he touched was way better off when Charlie stepped in--even his house.
Charlie was spontaneous, loving to hop in the
car with Dana and just drive, go for hikes and antiquing, finding new places to
eat. They loved Loudonville, where they spent their honeymoon and many wedding
anniversaries. Dana and Charlie did everything together, side-by-side. A deeply
sensitive man, even movies could make him cry. Dana told the family,
"There is no one who loved me the way he did."
In lieu of flowers, and because we cannot
gather, please consider a contribution made in Charlie's memory to The Isaiah
Project, 3396 West Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44111.
The family will have a
private visitation, but a large bash is planned for some time in the summer,
(which will be announced on our website) and much effort will be made to get
the word out to come and celebrate this marvelous, precious, much-loved man.
(440) 333-9774 www.buschcares.com
I last saw Chuck at a Lakewood High School
reunion golf event in July 2019. Amid the shuffle of carts, putting on golf
shoes and learning details of pairings, we chatted (albeit briefly). We didn't need
to talk much since we had so many shared experiences. He lived across the
street. He was a teammate. He was a friend. We both had smiles on our faces,
just recalling so many little wonderful moments of growing up in the City of
Homes - Lakewood, OH. Upon learning of his passing, I could not help but wish
to replay our conversation in my head. He was such a gentle and loving soul. He
reported updates on his life and family with an unassuming way without
bragging. Yet in his face you could see he was beaming with pride. Clearly he
was an accomplished human being. He is the sort of person you know and maybe
even take for granted. God called you home. And maybe that is a good thing for
all of us who knew you. Put in a good word for us Chuck. Rest in peace.
– Wesley Morgan, Friend, St. Louis, MO, May 07,
2020
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