John Edward Carpenter

To understand John E. Carpenter, who passed from this life into the next on the morning of December 27, 2023, you have to understand his relationship with the love of his life, Evelyn “Dolly” Carpenter.

“I love you,” John told Dolly shortly after their wedding day, May 15, 1954. “And I’ll let you know if that changes,” he said.

Though they eloped only 9 weeks after their first date (a very efficient courtship!), John’s love for Dolly never did change – through 69 years of marriage, four children (Cathy, Caron, Chris, and Carol), four grandchildren (Carrie, Robert, Jeffrey, and Clayton), two step-grandchildren (Corey and Alex), one great-grandchild (Caleb), and the additions of Ruth, Carl and Tyler to the family through marriage.

John was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Dec. 2, 1928, to John and May Carpenter. John was an active boy. His love of outdoors started in the Boy Scouts, and his first job was stocking the local grocery store as a teenager, including through times of rationing in the 1940s. This was almost certainly the birth of John’s fascination with grocery stores, and was also the first evidence of his life-long interest in commerce. Although he was not a college educated man, you wouldn’t have known this from the way he studied and presented products as a salesman (with Dixie Cup, Reynolds Aluminum, and AirShields), and as a savvy investor who was always shrewdly scouting for opportunities.

John was a man of few words. What he didn’t communicate verbally he demonstrated through the way he lived. John also had a steadfast faith in Jesus Christ and in the forgiveness of his sins through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

John had several loves in life (though all paled in comparison to Dolly). One of John’s loves was for animals. “If reincarnation is real, I want to be reincarnated as one of the Carpenters’ dogs,” a friend once observed. You’ll have to forgive John and Dolly’s many dogs for thinking they were princes and princesses. If they could have talked, they would have said they looked forward to Thanksgiving dinner as much as the Carpenters’ children and grandchildren did, because of the delicious turkey scraps that soon followed. In his life, John also cared for chickens, cats, horses, and cattle on their land in Paige and Richmond.

John was a faithful man. Faithful to his wife and family. Faithful to his country (having honorably served in the U.S. Army from 1951-1953, including a deployment to Germany in tense moments of the Cold War). He was also faithful to his communities and as a member of his church congregations. Though he would never tell you about it, John served as Band Booster President at his daughters’ high schools, was a Deacon at First Baptist Church in Giddings, and taught high school boys Sunday school at the First Baptist Church in Rosenberg.

Dolly and John moved to Tyler in 1993. In their 30 years in Tyler, John volunteered at Camp Tyler planting gardens (another of John’s passions), and John faithfully attended and prepared coffee for the congregation at Trinity Lutheran (John prepared coffee every Sunday for the Trinity Lutheran congregation for 20 years! A record that will surely stand the test of time in the history books!)

John showed his care for his fellow man through acts of service (for example, caring for their friend, Bonnie, and ensuring that a bedroom and bathroom were added to the lower floor of her house for her comfort) and through his donations to organizations including Shriner’s Hospital, The Hiway 80 Rescue Mission, and Cal Farley Boys Ranch.

The final years of John’s life were spent with Dolly at their home in Tyler. He never stopped moving (John in equal parts inspired and shamed his family with his fitness routine, going to the gym 3 times a week through his 95th birthday), reading (never tiring of learning about investments nor about his hero, Winston Churchill, whose portrait hung in the family bathroom for decades), nor did he stop loving Dolly. John faithfully prepared Dolly’s bed every night in their final years together, and gave her a goodnight kiss before sleep, with the love that can only be formed, and understood, through 69 years of marriage.

John’s pallbearers are Robert, Jeffrey, Clayton and Tyler, with honorary pallbearer, Carrie. John is preceded in death by his parents, John and May; and sister, Virginia. John was blessed that he is survived by his wife and his children, grandchildren, step grandchildren, and his great grandson, and awaits reunion with his remaining family members in the life to come.

A small family service to inter John will be held at Tyler Funeral Home on Tuesday, January 2. The Celebration of Life for John will be scheduled at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Hospice of East Texas, Trinity Lutheran Church, Shriner’s Hospital, The Hiway 80 Rescue Mission, Cal Farley Boys Ranch, or an organization of your choice.