Dean Carpenter

Dean Wilson Carpenter of Louisburg, Ks, died Nov. 23, 2007 of congestive heart failure at the home of his son and daughter-in-law in Olathe. Dean was born March 25, 1915, the third son and fourth child of John Sherman and Dora Wilson Carpenter in Miami County Kansas, five miles north of Louisburg on the family farm. He attended Spring Valley School and then Louisburg Elementary School, graduating from Louisburg High School in 1934. From first grade until graduation, he was never absent or tardy. He began working in grocery stores in Louisburg, and in 1940, he started a state job at the Port of Entry in Louisburg, now known as the little round house, recently removed from its original location at the junction of K68 and Metcalf. In 1940, he married Mildred Aileen Pedigo at her parent"s home near Cleveland, Mo. They formed a partnership that lasted until her death in 2002. During her long, final illness, he cared for her in "sickness, as in health". Two children, William Kent and Susan Jane were born to this union. In 1942, Dean joined the US Army and spent four years stationed in New York state and in the South Pacific. He was discharged as a staff sergeant in 1946. Returning to Louisburg, Dean briefly worked at Roy"s Market. He then opened his own store, Dean"s Grocery, which he operated for nineteen years with stores in Louisburg, Ks and Cleveland, Mo. In 1966, he sold the last store and went to work for Payless Grocery in Kansas City, Mo. from where he finally retired in 1987. Along the way Dean worked with the Boy Scouts, serving as a district Committeeman, founding Scoutmaster of Troop 425, and later assistant scoutmaster and neighborhood commissioner. He was an honorary warrior in the Tribe Mic-O-Say. He coached Little League baseball, was a past Master of the Masonic Lodge #243, a member of the American Legion, VFW, a former trustee of the First Baptist Church in Louisburg, and a member of the Christian Church in Cleveland and later in Louisburg. Dean was preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Mildred Pedigo Carpenter, his parents, brothers; Wylder H. and George Taylor Carpenter, and his sister Anna Thelma Carpenter. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Linda Carpenter or Olathe, Ks. By his daughter and son-in-law Susan and Robert Tapper of Dike, Iowa. A granddaughter Kerry Christie of Grundy Center, Iowa, three grandsons; Joshua Tapper of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Andrew D. Carpenter of Leawood, Ks., and Christopher S. Carpenter of Olathe., six great grandchildren, six step grandchildren, and eight step great grandchildren, as well as nieces and nephews.