Roy Benson Carpenter, Jr., of Niwot, Colorado, passed away Friday, April 20, 2007 after an athletic work-out while on business in Seoul, South Korea. He was 84 years old.Roy was born August 23, 1922 in Ayer, Massachusetts to Roy Benson Carpenter, Sr. and Alice Josephine (Dane) Carpenter. He was raised in Watertown, MA, and graduated from Watertown Senior High School in 1941, where he enjoyed being in the photography club.Mr. Carpenter was a patriot. His family's history includes Plymouth Colony, and the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. During WWII, he landed on the beach in Normandy on June 8, 1944. Being technologically-minded, he served with the United States Air Force as a radioman on the frontlines in France and Germany for three years. Honorably discharged in 1945, Roy studied engineering at Northeastern University in Boston. Always on the leading edge of technology and business, Roy began a 24 hour television repair business when the first televisions were sold, to help him support his new family while still studying. Roy then worked with the US government for over a decade. While in Canada, he met Dorothy May McCready, whom he married on May 25, 1946 in Cobden, Ontario, Canada. In 1962, the couple moved to Downey, California where Roy began work as an aerospace engineer with North American Rockwell, becoming a systems reliability analyst. He was especially proud of his work with the Apollo Space Program which transported the first humans to the moon.Roy was a leader and innovator. In 1971, as interest in aerospace was waning, he founded the company which became Lightning Eliminators and Consultants of Boulder, Colorado. His love of travel and adventure assisted him in promoting lightning prevention all over the world, including some of its remotest corners. Industries such as aerospace, telecommunications, and petroleum exploration/production have benefited greatly from his work, in which he was considered a world expert. He holds 16 US trademarks, 5 international trademarks, and 20 patents ? for the latest of which, involving the protection of oil tanks, he is receiving an award posthumously on April 30, 2007 in Houston.In 1988, he relocated the business to Colorado, accompanied by many workers, including two of his sons and their families. Here, Roy bought a beautiful ranch in Boulder, where he lived for 17 years, fulfilling a life-long dream. In younger years he had been a hunter and private pilot. In later years he attributed his remarkable health and vitality to his daily physical and spiritual work-outs.Roy was a man of strong faith, during his life being: an adult Sunday School teacher, deacon, ministry board member, and personal friend of national Christian leaders. During the hippie era he helped found Zax Coffee House which rescued drug addicts. He was a member of Baptist churches in Bedford, MA, Downey and Whittier, CA, and Boulder, CO. He credited his personal relationship with Jesus Christ for his success, boldness, and readiness to die at any time.Roy will be greatly missed by his family and colleagues world-wide. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Carpenter of Niwot, CO; a daughter, Cynthia W. Pettross, M.D. and her husband, Bill Pettross, M.D. of Yuba City, CA; three sons, Roy Benson Carpenter, III of Waltham, MA, David R. Carpenter and his wife, Linda, of Longmont, CO, and Peter A. Carpenter and his wife, Anne, of Longmont, CO; a brother, George Dean Carpenter of Chelmsford, MA; and five grandchildren, Joshua, Luke, Sean, Mia and Claire. He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Ernest Carpenter, and a sister, Maybelle McIlhiney.A celebration of Mr. Carpenter's extraordinary life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 4, 2007 at Calvary Church, Longmont, Colorado. Howe Mortuary, Longmont, is handling arrangements. Interment with military honors will be held at Ft. Logan National Cemetery, Denver.Memorial donations may be made to American Ethnic Ministries, PO Box 1695, Yuba City, CA, 95992Please share thoughts, memories and condolences with the family at www.howemortuary.com.
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