Verlyn James Carpenter

He was born August 23, 1921 in Canton, South Dakota to Jim and Esther Carpenter. His happy smile and gentle kindness was natural to him.

When he was a small child, his parents moved to Nebraska City, Neb., where he attended school and graduated from Nebraska City High School in 1939, lettering in basketball. After graduation, Verl joined the Nebraska National Guard, hoping to earn extra money while attending Peru State Teachers College. There, he became a rising star at 6’4” on Peru’s basketball team, earning his letter as a freshman. The team won 28 of 29 games the first season. Verl’s dream was to pursue his education and become a basketball coach.

Things began to change for the members of the National Guard and in January 1941; notice was given that they were being mobilized and sent to Camp Robinson, Arkansas, where they trained to be the first draftees of WWII. After Pearl Harbor was bombed, December 7, 1941, Verl’s unit was sent to Fort Ord, Calif., where he spent 18 months guarding the California coast. His army unit, 134th Infantry, was sent to Alabama in the spring of 1943 for combat training. Verl sailed out of New York and landed in England in May of 1944. There he landed on Omaha Beach on July 5, 1944. His 35th Division was assigned to General Patton’s 3rd Army.

On August 8, 1944, Verl was in front line combat as a squad and platoon leader for the next 98 days. He was awarded the Silver Star for voluntarily establishing contact with an attached tank destroyer unit area infested with snipers and subjected to heavy enemy fire. His courage and disregard for personal safety resulted in obtaining needed reinforcements and enabled his battalion to reorganize and proceed on its mission.

On September 27, 1944, he was shot in the leg while leading his platoon in street fighting in the small village of Manhoe, near the German border. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his action. In his writings he says the following, “To see dead bodies for the first time was devastating, and to think that we had so many months of training and in just one day of battle, a large number of my fellow soldiers were gone.” After recovering from his injuries he was sent to Paris, France, and became a Physical Training Instructor for six months.

In October, 1945, he returned to the United States and headed to Ventura to marry the “love of his life,” Maxine Andrade, who he previously had met at a USO dance. They were later married at the First Methodist Church in Ventura on November 5, 1945.

In 1945, Verl’s first job was working almost three years for Tidewater as a roughneck on an oil drilling rig. He then enrolled in Ventura Junior College and was a member of the basketball team, receiving All Southern California Honors. In July of 1947, Verl took a job with the Ventura Police Department, working as a patrolman and acting desk sergeant. In 1953, he went to work for Shell Chemical in Ventura as purchasing assistant. When the plant closed in 1972, he took an early retirement and then went to work with the Ventura Post Office until his retirement in 1983.

Verl was a member of American Legion, Post #339; Life Member of Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 24, having served 14 years as Adjutant and Secretary-Treasurer; member of the Ventura Sports Hall of Fame Committee for 10 years; and charter member of College United Methodist Church, where he put in countless volunteer hours working on the premises.

Verl loved all sports, including fishing, shooting pool (he could clear the table), bowling, golf, (making a Hole-In-One at Saticoy Regional Golf Course in 1997) and pitching horseshoes, winning a medal at Gold Coast Regional Senior Olympics in 1988. He especially loved basketball, having played the game in high school and college, and was proud to have played in the Royal Albert Hall in London while in service.

Verl was a very loving man and the closeness of his family and friends was very dear to him. Verl enjoyed three days a week at Oxnard Family Circle among special veterans and friends. It truly was a part of what kept him going.

Verl is survived by his loving wife, Maxine; daughter and son-in-law, Diane and Jim Ellis, of Ventura; daughter, Jeanne Kaska, of Portland, Ore.; grandson, Craig Ellis, of Ventura; granddaughter, Nicole Ellis Vargas and her husband, Rick, of Ventura; great-grandchildren, Morgan Ellis, of Ventura, and Lance Vargas, USMC, Camp Pendleton; brother, Ed Carpenter, of Ventura; sister, Betty Hughes, of Bakersfield; and many loving nieces, nephews, family, friends, Army reunion family and neighbors, who all loved him dearly.

A special thank you to Dr. Thomas McBreen and his office for all their loving care throughout the years.

Visitation will be held 2-4 p.m., Sunday, August 29, 2010 at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, 3150 Loma Vista Road, Ventura. Services will take place 11 a.m., Monday, August 30 at College United Methodist Church, 4300 Telegraph Rd., Ventura. A military burial will follow at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, 5400 Valentine Rd., Ventura. All are invited to attend a reception at College United Methodist Church fellowship hall, immediately following.

In lieu of flowers, the family’s sincere wish is that you give each of your loved ones an extra hug and kiss in memory of Verl, and remember that life is so very, very precious…

Land of the Free because of the Brave…

Arrangements are under the direction of the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, Ventura. Condolences may be left at www.TedMayrFuneralHome.com