Lawrence A. Carpenter, age 93, died on Saturday, December 31, 2011.
He is survivors include two brothers, Ray of Corralitas, CA and Oliver Jr. of Carrollton, TX; two sisters, Mrs. Jeanne Nelson of Spokane, WA and Mrs. Betty Nordheim of Bemidji, MN; one daughter, Mrs. Jeanne Raines of McCurtain, OK; two grandchildren, Mrs. Kellye Jelemensky of Flint, MI and Steven Mahanay of Berryville, AR; three great-grandchildren, Mrs. Gabrielle Weston of Grand Blanc, MI, Aaron Jelemensky and Rebecca Jelemensky of Flint, MI; and one great-great granddaughter, Anna Weston of Grand Blanc, MI. His wife, Polly, and his brother Kenneth of Duluth preceded him in death. He also leaves behind all his friends at Slim’s in Bemidji who were a large part of his life.
Mr. Carpenter was born May 8, 1918, in Bemidji, MI, of Oliver and Mabel Carpenter. He grew up in Duluth, MN and graduated in 1936 from Central High School there.
Mr. Carpenter entered Federal civil service in 1938, as a CAF-2 clerk-stenographer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in South St. Paul, MN, soon transferred to the Federal Prison Service and ultimately retired in 1976 from a GS-18 presidential appointment, endorsed by Senators Bentsen and Tower and confirmed by the Senate, to the U.S. Parole Board.
During his federal career he served in a number of capacities in various federal prisons, including assignments as executive assistant to the Director of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in Washington, DC, and warden of the federal prisons at Texarkana and Seagoville, TX; later was national chief of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration program of grants, program planning, and technical assistance to state and local jails, prisons, parole and probation; and wound up his federal career as a parole board member.
He also worked for a year for the Texas Rehabilitation Commission and two years for the Governor’s Criminal Justice Council. In the latter capacity, at the request of the White House, he also served as director of the National Conference on Corrections called by President Nixon, and then as staff director of the Corrections Task Force of the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals.
Following retirement in 1976, at the top rank in the federal classified civil service, he and his wife moved to Corpus Christi, and for a time he was a correctional consultant to a number of states, counties and localities, also serving as an expert witness in court cases involving correctional agencies.
In WWII, he was drafted into the U.S. Army on March 1, 1942 and assigned to the 31st Infantry Division at Camp Bowie, TX, where he received his basic training, was promoted to sergeant upon the completion of this training, and a few weeks later to master sergeant. Later in 1942 he was commissioned in the U.S. Army Air Force. He served overseas in the Southwest Pacific as an area controller with the 1st Fighter Control Squadron. En route overseas his troopship was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the Fiji Islands, with heavy loss of life. Subsequently he participated in five D-day island landings, three with the U.S. Army Air Force and two on detached service with the U.S. Navy.
When the Korean War began he was recalled to active duty, and in view of his background in the federal prison service, was assigned to the Corrections Division, Air Provost Marshal Directorate, Hq USAF, Washington, DC. His role there in the development of Air Force correctional policy, and the establishment of a pilot program for the salvage of court-martialed and sentenced airmen, at Amarillo AFB, TX, was recognized at length in an historical document published by the U.S. Air Force in 1987.
After the Korean War, while working at night and weekends as a guard supervisor at the federal prison in Seagoville, TX, he enrolled at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and attended classes during the daytime. He carried more than the usual number of classes, which enabled him to graduate in 2-1/2 years. In getting his B.A., he earned a 4.0 scholastic record, Highest Honors, Phi Beta Kappa (jr. year), Departmental Distinction and assorted other recognition.
Mr. Carpenter was cremated, and at his request, there will be no funeral, no services, no donations, no memorial, and no flowers.