John B. Carpenter

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John Carpenter Obituary

GREENFIELD - John Bennett Carpenter, 82, died peacefully at home on October 18, 2016, with his wife Sheila by his side.
He was predeceased by his father Reuben Bennett Carpenter, his mother Elizabeth Hanna Carpenter, and his sister Julie Carpenter.
He is survived by his wife Sheila Carpenter, his son John Carpenter and his fiancée Sanda Erdelez, his daughter Sarah Carpenter and her husband Jack Gellen, his granddaughters Ellie Carpenter and Sheila Evans, and his sister Emily Carpenter.
John was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. As a boy he enjoyed spending summers with relatives in Lineville, Alabama and St. Petersburg, Florida. He graduated from Kenyon College in 1956 and was married to his sweetheart, Sheila, July 13, 1957. John served in the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Georgia and in Kitzingen, Germany from 1957 to 1959. Sheila joined him in Germany, where they had many wonderful adventures. After returning to the States, he worked for ten years at Corning Glass Works, then became a stock broker, and retired as an investment advisor from Chase Bank in 1994.
John had many interests, including fly fishing, reading, music, carpentry and building furniture, painting, cooking and boating. He was attracted to the outdoors, natural sciences and the arts since he was very young. John inspired his sense of adventure, curiosity and a desire to learn new skills in his children, who will always be grateful and try to carry on in his tradition. He will be remembered and missed for his interesting, wide-ranging conversations and sense of humor.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 22, at St. James Episcopal Church, Greenfield.
Donations may be made to St. James Episcopal Church, 8 Church Street, Greenfield, or Hospice of Franklin County, 329 Conway Street, Greenfield.
Smith-Kelleher Funeral Home of Greenfield is assisting the family.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Recorder on Oct. 21, 2016.

Memories and Condolences
for John Carpenter

2 Entries

dennis piana

November 17, 2016

Dear J. B. Carpenter Family,

I am very sorry for your loss. I never met John but he has occupied a very special place in my daily thoughts since the spring of 2016 when a poem of mine won first place prize in the 2016 Poet's Seat Poetry Contest and I brought home the Poet's Seat, that beautiful, bigger-than- life chair that had inspired me annually to think about, if not fully execute, the delivery of poetic thought onto a page.

During my twenty-five years of residing in Colrain I have attended a dozen PS Contest award nights, have entered it a half dozen times, and have been a finalist three times. The third time was the charm. I was thrilled to bring the chair into my home. While maneuvering it into a corner of my living I noticed an inscription on its underside: John B. Carpenter Greenfield, MA 1994. For real, I wondered, or a pseudonym. Smiling, I sat down to write in it, feeling inspired as well as grateful.

In the days that followed I felt a growing compulsion to utilize the chair in a more public and laureate way: to give back and share my award with those responsible for keeping the contest alive and vital for 25 years. Over the next few weeks I contacted the coordinators, sponsors, and winners of the PS Contest to gauge their interest in a Silver Anniversary Anthology which featured its history, the written work of its contributors and the Poet's Seat chair in a book form project. The Friends of the Greenfield Publc Library enthusiastically agreed to fund the cost of printing and launching it in early 2017 as a non-profit fund raiser to sustain and expand the PS Contest over the next 25 years.

In late October the day before I was scheduled to read a few of my poems at the
Greenfield Word Festival and also plug the Anthology Project I came upon John B. Carpenter's obituary in the Recorder. I was stunned. Was this the person who made the chair that had inspired me and so many others to engage with poetry? I read the obituary. What confirmed my premature thinking were the facts: he became a furniture maker in 1994, and was humorous by nature. By design or coincidence, the announcement of his passing moved me to dedicate my Word Fest reading to John Bennett Carpenter. Plugging the Anthology also felt right.

And now as I assemble the Anthology (comprised of the winning Poems, individual Photos of the winning poets in the chair, and each poet's Reflection of living with the chair) to be released at the turn of the year I am asking you if you might permit us to include a suitable picture of John (not unlike the one published here in this guest book) for our acknowledgement of John B. Carpenter's contribution to the contest. If you would also like to share in a short written piece or in a dialogue with me any anecdote or emotion that may recall occurring during his making of the chair, we all would be more than thankful to feature it in the book. May you and all your family find peace and healing.

Sincerely,
Dennis Piana ([email protected]) or call me at:
413-624-3649

Carol Emerson

November 2, 2016

Dear Sheila and your family,
I am sorry to hear from June about John's death. I will always remember how welcoming he was to our Book Club when we visited you! He was a very interesting and special man. Roger and I are sending a hug and remembering you all in prayer. Carol Emerson

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