Carl Eugene Meckstroth

Carl was a proud Army Veteran of WWII. He served in Mortar Company at Guadalcanal and Luzon, Philippines. He attained the rank of Staff Sargent, and earned a Bronze Star.

After his discharge from the Army, he returned home to St. Mary’s, where he married Doris McElderry in 1946. A son, Carl E. Meckstroth, Jr., was born on Sept. 21, 1947. He did not survive more than a few hours due to premature birth. Paula arrived in 1949 and Doug in 1951. This completed their family. Doris joined the Church Triumphant in 2005. In 2006, he married Adeline (Addie) Epperly.

Carl attended barber school in Toledo, Ohio. He partnered in a shop in St. Mary’s until a move was made to Arizona in 1958. He barbered for a time, then was employed by Phoenix Beauty Supply delivering, then selling, professional barber & beauty supplies until his retirement in 1989 as a manager and vice president.

He served as a Scoutmaster for the troop he and Doug were involved with for several years. He was an encourager to Paula with her Camp Fire activities.

Property was purchased at Forest Lakes, Arizona and a cabin was built from a kit. An oversized garage was added. Many weekend trips were made with grandchildren during the years, doing everything from fishing in local lakes in the summer to creating their own sledding slope in the winter snow.

He spent many hours cutting firewood. He then shared his skills and the results of his labor with family and friends.

One of his hobbies was working with wood. He built bedroom workspaces, bookcases, a doll display case, collectible spoon racks. He purchased a scroll saw and made nativity shapes, wood puzzles, and other small items. He also helped his kids, grandkids, and other family and friends with home remodeling projects.

He spent many hours at Los Arcos United Methodist Church, of which he was a charter member, throughout the years. After retirement, he became the first person on call for church staff when something went wrong. If he could not fix or repair the problem, only then would professionals be called.

He would often state that he had “itchy feet.” This translated to needing to get away from home and travel. Annual trips from Arizona to Ohio were guaranteed when Paula and Doug were young. After the family dispersed throughout the United States, trips often included Wyoming, Colorado, California, Oklahoma, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan, and, in later years, wherever Addie had Senior Olympic archery competitions. Whenever he traveled to visit family, he always wanted a project to work on while there. He did not enjoy sitting around with nothing to do.

Carl was preceded in death by his parents, infant son Carl Jr., first wife Doris, and grandson Cody Meckstroth. Carl is survived by his sisters, Norma Lhamon of St. Mary’s Ohio and Eileen (Bill) Witt of Littleton Colorado, wife Adeline, son Doug (Jan) Meckstroth of Mesa Arizona, and daughter Paula (Mike) Waldrip of Odessa, Texas, stepsons Tim (Georgette), Ron (Karen) & Doug (Lynn) Epperly; grandchildren Michelle (Roy) Geer, Denise (Rowdy White) Gentry, Joylynn (Nathaniel) Ruppert, John (MaFe) Meckstroth, and Laura (Brian) King; step grandchildren Nathaniel (Nikki) Epperly, Jessica (Tyler) Lynch, Emilia Epperly, Samuel Epperly, Ryan (Amy) Butler, Elizabeth (Chris) Mischel; great-grandchildren Brianna and Michael Frantz, Felicity Hannsz, Elijah and Joshua Ruppert, Evan and Riley Meckstroth, and Penelope and Charlotte King, niece Cheryl (Jack) Arms of Mesa Arizona, other nieces, nephews and friends.

He will be greatly missed. We love you, Dad, Brother, Husband, Uncle, Grandpa, PawPaw, Carl, Tater.

Visitation will be Thursday, Nov. 2nd from 4-8 p.m. and funeral service on Saturday, Nov. 4th at 1 p.m., both to be held at Green Acres Mortuary 401 N Hayden Rd. Scottsdale, AZ. Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers may be made in Carl’s name to Hospice of the Valley 1510 E. Flower, Phoenix, AZ 85014. Please feel free to leave a message and condolences in the guest book feature.