Jimmie Cartwright

CMSgt. (Retired) Jimmie E. Cartwright died on November 23, 2016 at the Blessed Home for Senior’s in Elk Grove after a long battle with COPD. A beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, Chief Cartwright was proceeded in death by his beloved wife of 52 years, Kathleen F. Cartwright. Chief Cartwright is survived by his daughter Deborah A. Provencher of Franklin, TN; his son James E. Cartwright Jr. (Cheryl) of Elk Grove, CA; and his son Jeffery C. Cartwright (Kathy) of Brentwood, TN. Chief Cartwright is also survived by his five grandchildren Sara, Melissa, Stefanie, Jonathon and James III, and his great granddaughter Brylee V. Walker and many more family and friends. Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Chief Cartwright joined the US Army Air Corp in October 1947 and made it his family and career for 30 years. With a distinguished career in the US Air Force Chief Cartwright was stationed all over the world including England, Germany, Vietnam, multiple locations in Asia including Vietnam and throughout the United States before settling in Gold River, CA. Chief Cartwright is missed but will never be forgotten. A memorial service will be held on December 16 at 10:00 AM at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Carmichael, CA followed at 1:30 PM by a US Air Force Full Honors Service at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon, CA – reception to follow. In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Wounded Warrior Project or to St. Johns the Evangelist Catholic Church. For more details on Chief Cartwright and the services please go to www.mountvernonmemorial.com

That’s the formal announcement of my father’s passing but as one of Jimmie’s children, I’d like to give a more personal story of his life. These are the things I know. He was born and raised in Monroe, LA. His father was a “construction worker” or more specifically a master carpenter who taught him much of what he knew about building and household repairs. Dad liked to take us on drives through Monroe, Bossier City and Shreveport showing us houses his father built and on which he helped. He was very proud that some of the homes that he helped build in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s were still standing in the 70’s and 80’s. His mother was a nurse, a religious woman, a wonderful mother and a well-liked member of the community. My father also loved sports, baseball in particular, and he played baseball as a youth and continued to play after he joined the Air Force. He taught my brother and I about many things as we grew up – everything from carpentry to the wonderful game of baseball.

My father was a product of his time and he was clearly part of what Tom Brokaw called the “Greatest Generation”. He came of age during the Great Depression and Second World War and Dad was clearly part of building modern America. For him, joining the Air Force was an act of love for his country and a search for a career and meaningful life. My father left high school at 17 and had his father sign his papers to enter the US Army Air Corp. It was here that Dad found his third passion (after mom and baseball). My Dad loved the Air Force, especially all of the people he worked with over the years. I know that on October 1, 1977, when it was time to retire after 30 years at the age of 47, he would have gladly stayed in the Air Force for another 30 years.

Over that 30-year period, Dad was stationed in Texas (Lackland AFB), Mississippi (I don’t know the AFB?), Florida (Eglin AFB), Japan (Itazuki AFB), New York (Suffolk County AFB), Northern California (McClellan AFB), Southern California (George AFB), Germany (Lindsey Air Station and Ramstein AFB) and back to Northern California (Mather AFB) with numerous stops in Asia during Vietnam or other flare-ups in that part of the world. In these past two weeks, I have found many documents recording accomplishments that he never talked about with us. I learned that Dad was named Airman of the Year multiple times, was offered Chief of the Air Force at least 2 times, attended and graduated from Officers Candidate School, consolidated a number of Life Support units within specific base operations, and was hand-picked to support the Berlin Air Lift and many more accolades. I also learned that he designed Life Support processes and forms that were adopted Air Force-wide, with many still in use today. He designed a testing station for headsets that was engineered into something called the MQ-1 Tester. While I know I have only found a few of his performance reviews, it did not surprise me to see that he was consistently rated “in the top 1 percent” since 1954.

Upon retirement from the Air Force Dad went to work for the Army at the Sacramento Army Depot. His work was to repair field radios for soldiers and he took his work very seriously as he understood the importance of well performing equipment in the field. Again, Dad’s favorite part of the Army Depot was the people he worked with and improving the way things were done. To be more effective at his job at the Army Depot, Dad enrolled at American River College and took courses in electronics and electrical engineering.

As I said above Mom was one of Dad’s passions! Two very different people from different cultures yet raised in the same timeframe. While they had their arguments, they were a unified team and it was clear they loved each other. My mother was devoted to my father, and my father was devoted to my mother. The most telling moment was when my mother had a debilitating stroke. For the next 20 years my mother had medical challenge after medical challenge and Dad was by her side the whole way. He cared for her every step of the way, and his devotion to her was shown in that very visible way. He only told me once he felt “cheated” concerning Mom’s challenges when he recounted their plans to travel and enjoy their retirement, yet he quickly added that at least he had more time with her.

In spite of all of these documents, the true testimony to Dad’s life are the number of Air Force colleagues, neighborhood friends and church friends who have called or spoken to us directly about how important he was to their lives and careers and how he was always friendly and giving.

We are grateful that although Dad is gone, we know he will be missed and never forgotten.