Carl Franklin Carpenter obituary

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — Frank Carpenter died suddenly of a massive heart attack on Oct. 3 in a hospital near his home in Sacramento, Calif. He went directly into the presence of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He accepted Christ as his personal savior over 50 years ago (absent from the body is to be present with the Lord).

He was born January 15, 1949 to Carl and Grace Carpenter, long time residents of the Mission Valley near Pablo. He was the youngest in the family of four children; Clara, Dorthy and (Emma) Maye are his older sisters. Growing up in the shadows of Haystack Mountain, he developed a lifetime love for the great outdoors and everything that goes with it. He loved fishing and couldn’t have lived in a better place. This was one of the things that the whole family enjoyed together. He liked to hunt, but liked to hunt with a camera more than a gun. Frank loved animals and especially dogs as he has had dogs in his life most of the time.

Frank learned to love sports early, both by playing and as a spectator. He attended primary school at Pablo and graduated from Ronan High School in 1967. He went on to earn his teaching degree from the University at Billings and graduated from there in 1971.

While in college, he met and married Sally French and from that union they had a daughter, Staci, and son, Steven. After graduation, they moved to California. They later divorced and Sally and the children stayed in California and Frank returned to Montana where he worked at Depuis Mill south of Polson for about a year.

Frank then moved to Spokane, Wash. and worked at Capp Homes (Prefab Homes) until the company closed a few years ago. He has worked the past 30 years for various companies helping people by developing public housing, remodeling and refurbishing building for the same.

In Spokane, he met and married Pat Riley, his wife of 36 years. From this union he had two children, son, Cory, and daughter, Christi. He loved his family very much and they were the center of all their activities. Because of his interest, he saw is children develop some of his own passions. Frank took them fishing, was Christi’s baseball coach. He and Cory were both umpires and Christi loves dogs. Both children graduated from Washington State and the whole family are cougar fans.

Frank was preceded in death by his parents, Carl in 1983 and Grace in 1999, his grandparents, and uncles and aunts. He is survived by his wife, Pat; four children, Staci Lee, Steven French, Cory (Stephanie) Carpenter and Christi (Stephen) Peek; four granddaughters Alexa and Kayla Lee and Addison and Savannah Carpenter; three sisters, Clara Horstman (and family) and Dorothy and (Emma) Maye Carpenter, all living in the Spokane area.

Frank was cremated and two services were scheduled. The first was at the Price Funeral Chapel on Oct. 8 in Sacremento, Calif. Much of the family could not attend this one so a celebration of Frank’s life was scheduled on Oct. 16 in Spokane at the Community Frame Works owned by one of Frank’s former employers. They provided a lunch and a slide presentation and many kind words. We laughed and cried and received some closure after Frank’s sudden death. Many family and friends were able to attend.

Frank’s ashes were placed on some of his favorite places and the river where he fished with his family.