Ann K. Carpenter, 89
FALMOUTH — With grace and dignity, as she had hoped, Ann K. Carpenter, 89, died on Jan. 11 in Falmouth.
She was born on April 29, 1919 in Claymont, Del., the daughter of Mabel (Silkworth) and William Kline. She was a graduate of Wilmington Friends School in 1936 and graduated from the University of Delaware at age 20 with a degree in art history.
Her late husband, Randall H. Carpenter, after wooing her with “slow rolls”over the university campus in a bi-plane, had the good fortune to marry Ann and together they had three remarkable daughters and a beloved only son.
While her husband flew in the Air Force during World War II and later as a captain for American Airlines, she raised the kids in Garden City, N.Y., Chappaqua, N.Y., and Westport, Conn.
She was a humble, yet competitive, athlete who excelled as an accomplished bowler and later as an avid tennis player who played well into her 80s. She taught her kids to play a civilized game of croquet, but would also think nothing of sending their balls into the woods. She enjoyed watching tennis and baseball, biding her time as a Phillies, Mets and Braves fan, finally becoming a die-hard Red Sox fan.
She did her share of sailing in New England waters and up and down the inter-coastal waterway as her husband’s first mate and sometimes navigator and will be sorely missed by her dog, “Skipper.” Always active, she enjoyed painting, knitting, sewing, crossword puzzles, bridge and solitaire. She was an active member of the Garden Club of Hilton Head during her years in South Carolina.
She will be remembered for many things that come from a life well lived: the strength of her character, her integrity, discipline, creativity, humility and even her posture. Her children and grandchildren remember her as “candid,” open-minded and with a sense of liberalism that showed her to be a modern, thinking woman.
She is survived by her four children: Judith Lambert of Cumberland Foreside; Barbara Fowlie and her husband William of Washington; Mary Lynn Kerrigan and her husband Edward of New Hampshire; Rick Carpenter and his wife Joanne of Connecticut; nine grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Services were held last week.Burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery in Greenville, Del., in the spring. Memorial contributions may be made to The Salvation Army or to a charity of choice.
Carpenter