WILLIAM CARPENTER

Surrounded by loving family, Bill Carpenter, age 92, passed into the arms of his Lord on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. Bill was born in Parsons, KS on April 10, 1922. He met the love of his life, Mary Louise Bringle, in the seventh grade. Bill and Mary would have celebrated their 71 year wedding anniversary this June. Bill served in the United States Navy from 1940 to 1946, and was cited for bravery at Pearl Harbor in 1941, for which he was personally acknowledged and honored by the Governor of the State of Kansas. He again was cited and advanced in rank on May 8, 1942, for outstanding conduct in action against the enemy when his Marine Compartment on the U.S.S. Yorktown was struck by a bomb during the Battle of the Coral Sea. The explosion severely burned him but he saved two other men, moving them to safety and continued to battle the fire until ordered to accept medical care by superior officers. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal. The war injuries sustained by Bill were permanent, eventually rendering him legally blind and preventing him from his childhood dream of becoming a commercial artist. However, he persisted throughout his life with very limited sight to continually create amazing and beautiful oil and watercolor paintings that are highly sought after and coveted to this day. The most cherished things in Bill's life were his extensive family, his Catholic religion and being an artist. Bill is survived by his loving wife Mary; four sons and their wives: Kent and Terri Carpenter, Kevin and Vanessia Carpenter, Cliff and Michelle Carpenter, David and Shari Carpenter; two daughters and their husbands, Janene and Harry Massucco and Christy and Phil Dawson; 16 grandchildren; 21 great grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; and his brother and his wife, Robert and Marlene Carpenter, of North Carolina. Visitation will be held at Whitehurst, Sullivan, Burns and Blair Funeral Home, on Monday, April 21, 2014, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Recitation of the Holy Rosary and a Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. Interment to follow at Saint Peter's Cemetery. Memorial donations may be sent to Nazareth House, 2121 N. First Street, Fresno, CA 93703. Whitehurst, Sullivan, Burns and Blair Funeral Home, 1525 East Saginaw Way, Fresno, California (559)227-4048