Nola "Frances" Carpenter

Frances was born July 1, 1951 in Live Oak, FL and is survived by her mother, Corine Deese Mattheson (age 92). She is preceded in death by her father, Keith Andrew Mattheson and her husband Randall Woodman Carpenter. Spending the majority of her life in Central Florida, she graduated from Ocoee High School in 1969.

Her post-secondary education included Valencia Community College (Associates Degree), the University of Florida (Bachelors Degree), and Nova Southeastern University (Masters and Doctorate Degrees).

From 1973-2016 she taught at Ocoee Jr. High, Union Park Jr High, Oak Ridge High School and Lake Nona Middle School. She also taught at night at Valencia Community College. Her entire teaching career and advanced degrees were in the field of Mathematics.

On August 2, 1975, she married Randy, who worked as a Sheriff’s Deputy in Sector Two of Orange County for over 30 years, and they had two daughters, Allisha (and Lee Douglas) and Tamara (and Joe Andrews). She also had four granddaughters Marissa (Andrews), Emily (Douglas), Rachel (Andrews), and Ashley (Andrews). They celebrated 28 years of marriage before his death in 2003.

Frances loved to sew and even crafted her own wedding dress, bridesmaids’ dresses and

groomsmen’ suits. She has an affinity for fashion and joked that you would probably never see her wearing the same outfit twice.

A graveside service will be held on Monday, March 23 at 11am at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha. On August 2nd, the family will hold a memorial service to celebrate the reunion of Randy and Frances and to honor what would have been their 45th Anniversary.

In lieu of flowers, please direct any memorial donations to Cornerstone Hospice in Ocoee, who helped comfort and care for Frances and her girls in her final days.