Where does the time go?

It is with great sadness we report the passing of the most intelligent and modest man any of us will ever meet, John Eddy Carpenter of Battle Creek, Michigan. Dad was a bit of a world-traveler, having criss-crossed our continent and both oceans before settling in Northeast Ohio in his final years. In between, Dad's life spanned the 20th century: being raised on the farm during the Great Depression, enlisting in World War II, raising a family during the tumultuous 1960s and 70s and helping to develop the new information age which we all take for granted today. Dad remembered the Iceman with his horse-drawn carriage, Orson Welles' Halloween broadcast, the Marvel of Science and FDR's Fireside Chats.
Dad was the youngest of six children born to Albert James and Pearl Josephine (Mevedy) Carpenter at midnight on March 10th 1923. On the afternoon of December 7, 1941, when he learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Navy in February, 1942 and was a pilot in both the Atlantic and European Theatres.
After the war Dad, audited core classes in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Despite not earning his degree, Dad still landed jobs at General Electric in Cincinnati (where he met our mother Elizabeth Bolser), Whirlpool and the Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys) of Detroit. Dad helped to develop the programming and programs that would became the foundation for ATM's, online banking and finance and global integration. Burroughs sent Dad around the world to teach programming to its analysts in Japan, Hawaii, Scotland, Ireland, England, France and Belgium. Dad never sought or accepted the credit for his work, preferring to simply be known as a Teacher, a title he relished more than any other. And he also began raising his family in Union Lake and Milford, MI.
Dad chose to take an early retirement in the 1980's rather than uproot his family with a sudden move to Atlanta. Shortly afterward Mom graduated with a Masters in Social Work from the U of M and Dad found himself taking the lead role in support services for Mom when she began her new career. Dad made their move to Maine possible, first Waterville then Calais and finally Old Orchard Beach once Mom could no longer work. Dad provided the anchor Mom needed with physical and emotional support for her right up until the very last. Dad understood the definitions of loyalty and sacrifice.
Dad was not a religious man but he was proud of his Midwestern-Methodist roots and Michigan-Ohio in particular, having spent the bulk of his life between the two (the Michigan-Ohio State game always tore him up every year).
John and Elizabeth celebrated 57 years together July 5, 2015. Elizabeth survives Dad as do adult children, John Jr., Thomas Patrick, Helen Elizabeth and Joseph William; grandchildren, Josephine Carpenter-Lewis and Jeannie and Lilia-Rose Carpenter (both of Amsterdam, NL).
A brief service will be held from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 25, at the McMahon-Coyne-Vitantonio Funeral Home, 38001 Euclid Avenue, Willoughby. Burial will be held in Commerce Township, Michigan the day after Thanksgiving. (For more information please call 440-942-0700.)
“Dad your strength, devotion, passion and wisdom became examples for all of us, you were always the standard we all lived by. You will be missed much more than you could imagine. May you enter Eternal Peace and Everlasting Love, and May God Bless You for the Gift of Your Life.”

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