A Life Remembered

A few short hours after I wrote the post below, my grandfather, Hambleton Baxter Carpenter, went to be with Jesus. Here is his obituary from the Greenville News, Greenville, SC.

Hambleton Baxter Carpenter, resident Of Rolling Greenville Village, formally of 6 Trails End, Greenville, husband of the late Dorothy Tourtellotte Carpenter died Friday, May 4, 2012.Born in Greenville, Baxter was a son of the late Fredrick Garrison and Mary Hemsley Carpenter.A communicant of Christ Church and former member of the Vestry and Sunday School teacher. A graduate of Presbyterian College he worked as a CLU with Prudential Insurance Company for more than 45 years until his retirement in 1983. He also served as a past president of the Greenville Life Underwriters Association and the S.C. Association of Life Underwriters and President of Estate Planning Council. He was a member of The Cotillion Club, St. Andrews Society, Poinsett Club and past president of The Tarantella Club. He served in the U.S. Army as a Lt. Col. during WWII with tours in Germany, France and Czechoslovakia. Surviving are his children, daughter, Dorothy "Dusty" C. Brownell and her husband I.O. Brownell, Jr. of Greenville; Vicki C. Waters and her husband B.B. Waters III of Greer; son, H.B. "Bud" Carpenter, Jr.and his wife Mary Stewart Carpenter of Mt. Pleasant; 9 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his sister Helen C. Brady and brothers, Richard H., Davis F. and Walter B. Carpenter.A memorial service will be held Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 2 o'clock at Christ Church Episcopal with The Rev. Harrison McLeod and The Rev. Bob Chiles officiating. Interment will follow in the churchyard.
Special thanks to Baxter's Caregivers Doris Acosta, Rosa Torres, Tonya Johnson, Tracy Welchel, Carol Cole, Hospice Care of SC, especially Pam Campbell and the Nurses at Rolling Green Health Care Center.In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Christ Church, 10 N. Church St., Greenville 29601 or to Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC

I am so very sad. At the same time, it's hard to be sad. Baxter lived to be 94. He would have been 95 in July. He is home. He's been ready to go home for so long. He lived a full and wonderful life, which can be seen from the few words above that sum up his life. He had the pleasure of living abroad, marrying a wonderful woman, having three wonderful children, spending his retirement traveling all over the world. He was able to accomplish so much during his lifetime. He lived a long and wonderful life. We are blessed to be able to have him this long.

Baxter was cremated and buried in the same box with Dot. She passed away almost 6 years ago and nothing was ever done with her ashes so they were buried together.  At the burial site, my uncle Bud was allowed to say a few words and he spoke of how Baxter loved people. People who knew Baxter spoke of what a great man he was and how much he loved people. Bud went on to talk about how we should live forward Baxter's legacy of love. He loved everybody. That can be seen from the names of his caregivers listed above. They were all at the funeral .He loved everybody - no matter their social status, color of their skin, or where they worked. He is a wonderful example to me of how I should live my life.

It has been a sweet time of remembrance and hearing stories about Baxter and the life that he lead.