Everette Arthur Carpenter

It is with deep sadness we announce the passing of Everette Carpenter who, with family by his side, passed away at his home on Friday, January 21, 2022. Everette was the 8th of 12 children born to Arthur and Margaret Carpenter. He grew up on the family farm near St. Elizabeth, Manitoba, in a big four-room house on 20 acres of land. Everette attended Jerome School in a one-room building that catered to all grade levels. He loved playing hockey with friends and being a southpaw pitcher for his baseball team. He had fond memories of the baseball team loading up into his teacher’s vehicle to go to surrounding towns to play.

Everette assisted on the family farm but also worked for neighbours, milking cows and tending to grain fields. When he was 16, Everette went to Kenora where he worked several jobs including: a bellhop at the Kenricia hotel, a milkman for Lakeland Dairies, a service station attendant at Krisko’s and for Ontario Hydro taking down danger trees. As a sign of predestiny, while he was a milkman, he delivered to the house where his future wife lived. Due to the early delivery hours, they never actually met until 1960 when Everette was the best man, and Antoinette was a bridesmaid, at his brother Harry’s wedding. In due course, Everette and Antoinette started dating, eventually marrying in June, 1964. In the end, mom did marry the milkman and they remained soulmates for 57 years of marriage and 62 years of knowing each other. They were rarely apart except when working and were inseparable during the last 10 years of his life.

In their early years together, Everette and Ann resided in Winnipeg where Everette worked for Co-op Implements running a drill press. He then worked with his brother John at Joy Manufacturing, first as a painter then as a maintenance man. After 3½ years, he left because he missed the outdoors and the freedom to work on his own. In 1966, his son Michael was born and he began hauling gravel and snow with a new tandem truck. A particular source of pride was getting calls from the city to clear Winnipeg streets after heavy snowfalls. He also hauled in Kenora and Hudson, Ontario. The long periods away from his family caused him to seek work at home and so he began hauling gravel for Mulder’s Brothers in Winnipeg. His daughter Dana was born in 1972 and in 1976 he, his brothers Harry and Larry, went into business together forming Carpenter Paving Ltd. When the company closed down, Everette worked for Kelvin Kartage, retiring in 1999.

Those who knew Everette well enough may have noted his interest in cars and trucks: driving them, fixing them, washing them, reading about them and talking about them. He had a particular passion for Ford vehicles owning Monarchs, Meteors, Mercuries, LTDs and F150s throughout his life. His dream of owning a Lincoln was realized when his wife sent him into the corner store one day to pick up a lottery ticket. When they scratched the card, they won a 1987 Lincoln Town Car. He loved that car and drove it across the country several times.

Everette was a skilled mechanic. He had a rare gift for intuitively understanding how things worked and he enjoyed tinkering with cars, mix masters, sump pumps; anything that could be broken he would fix, and that included modern electronics. As one example, he was able to repair his son’s computer disk drive. Michael was amazed and asked how this was possible. He said he just listened to the device and turned screws (potentiometers) in the box until it sounded right to him. He said he was glad it worked now - just one question, “What does it do”? It also goes without saying that if something new needed assembly, the instructions were the first thing to go in the trash. The finished product usually ended up being stronger or faster than the original. He often joked how convenient it would have been to hitch a truck to Princess Auto, haul it home, and then have all the parts and tools to build anything he wanted.

Everette and his family travelled extensively across Canada from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia. They also visited most of the United States, with favourites places being Tennessee, California, Florida and Hawaii. Except for Hawaii, all vacations were by car road trips where he would listen to classic country music: Johnny Cash, George Jones, Don Williams, Conway Twitty, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynne, Willie Nelson, Tammy Wynette, Stompin’ Tom Connors and Kris Kristofferson. Antoinette would make mixed eight-track tapes for him to play in the car. The thing is, eight-track tapes never stop – they keep on playing…forever. Consequently, his son and daughter know all the words to songs of the classic country genre. Fortunately, throughout their years, Everette and Ann were able to see many of these performers live.

Everette loved family gatherings. His favourite colour was blue, favourite song was “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash and his choice of clothing was always work-clothes, because they were comfortable and functional. He had a soft-spot for the movie, “Same Time, Next Year” and watched “M*A*S*H” and “Rockford Files” repeats on television whenever they were on. He liked keeping an eye on the Blue Bombers and, just like his own father, enjoyed watching wrestling, even making it out to the old Winnipeg arena to see live matches. His favourite breakfast was bacon, eggs, toast and coffee. And yes, he loved his coffee – lots of coffee. His favourite dinner could only be described as a twisted amalgamation of mashed potatoes, sausages and canned tomatoes, which were thoroughly mixed together on a plate. Everette was also a fan of McDonald’s restaurants, affectionately referring to them as “Rotten Ron’s’”. Upon first meeting his daughter’s boyfriend (now husband) who hailed from Prince Albert (PA), Saskatchewan, he was curious how McDonald’s faired in that city. Unfortunately, when he asked him how many Rotten Ron’s there were in PA, he probably should have noted that the boyfriend’s name was Ron and that his father’s name was Ron Senior. Everette also read the Winnipeg Free Press every day and liked to read books, usually about cars, but sometimes about the lives of famous or infamous people.

Throughout his life, he loved the outdoors: whether it was mowing the lawn or fixing something in the garage. In later years, he spent most of the day in his sunroom watching the birds, foxes and deer that roamed about in the backyard. He was a caring family man and loved his family dearly. He was particularly proud of his grandsons, visiting them often in Guelph, and of his granddaughter who he saw regularly. Watching a new generation grow up kept him youthful. Although Everette was in general a quiet, soft-spoken man, he did like a good debate. Politics, sports and the price of gas were hot topics of conversation. Many an evening was spent around someone’s kitchen table or on the phone simply enjoying a good-spirited argument.

Everette is survived by his beloved wife Antoinette, brother Harry and sister Angela, brother-in-law Willie, sister-in-law Jean, son Michael (Sandra), daughter Dana (Ron), grandsons Benjamin, Nathan, Thomas and William and granddaughter Maggie, as well as numerous beloved nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, Arthur and Margaret Carpenter, siblings Carol (Mike), John (Florence), Ethel (Jim), Bud, Betty (Wally), Rena, Connie (Avery), Larry (Florie), Donna (Bob), in-laws, Michael and Zofia, sisters-in-law, Josephine, Helen and Laura and brothers-in-law, Anthony, Frank and Reinhard. For his family, not a day will go by where he is absent from their thoughts. He will be missed beyond words. He ended every night by saying “Goodnight Mrs. C.” Antoinette says “Goodnight Mr. C”, you are forever in our hearts.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.greenacresfuneralhome.com for the Carpenter family.