Gordon Lee Carpenter, Jr., 80, of Ewing passed away Friday Evening, March 18, 2022 at his home in Ewing.
Gordon was born in Maysville, Kentucky in October 1941. He grew up on a family farm where he found his passion for rocks and geology. He was in band, 4H, loved shooting marbles and found a love for reading that continued his entire life. He was given the nickname “Jeep” as he would walk, crawl and climb over everything on that farm; similarly to how the Willis Jeep performed in WWII.
He attended University of Kentucky “Wildcats” for geology and later finished at Western Kentucky University. He has had a lifelong love of watching UK basketball. He loved telling the story of when he marched in JFK’s inauguration parade for UK playing the tuba.
He met and married Carolyn Hall at UK and had a son; Gordon L. Carpenter III “Lee”
Gordon came to southern Illinois in the late 1960’s following his passion of working as a Petroluem Geologist in the oil patch. He had two kids with Derry Burns Carpenter; William “Bill” Carpenter and Elizabeth Carpenter.
Later in life Gordon met Sherry Hill and had one son; Christopher Carpenter; where he later moved to Ewing in the late 1980’s.
He has lead generations of kids in this world with his involvement in various roles at Ewing Grade School over the last 30 years. First as a maintenance man / janitor. Later as a bus driver; this was his true passion later in life and loved taking kids on the Springfield trip every year. More recently he has enjoyed being the crossing guard and greeting everyone with a smile and twinkle in his eye.
He was preceded in death by his parents: Marietta Rosser Carpenter and Gordon Lee Carpenter Sr both of Maysville, Kentucky.
He is survived by his significant other Sherry Webb of Ewing. Four children: “Lee” Carpenter (Alice) of Lexington, KY; William “Bill” Carpenter (Jennifer) of St Louis, Missouri; Elizabeth Carpenter (Dan Feigert) of Charlottesville, Virginia; and Chris Carpenter of Ewing, Illinois. Five grandchildren: Stephanie, Marietta, Posey, Victoria and Scout.
Funeral services will be held at 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, March 26th at the Whittington Church. Graveside services will follow at Thurmond
Cemetery North East of Ewing. Visitation will be from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00P.M. on Saturday at the church. There will be a Celebration of Life Potluck immediately following the conclusion of graveside services at Ewing First Baptist Church.
For more information or to send online condolences please visit www.johnstonfuneralhome.com
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