Kenneth Carpenter, 78, passed away on March 23, 2023 in Redding, California. After living with lung cancer for 3 years, he passed peacefully at home surrounded by his family.

Kenneth was born in 1944 to Audrey (Georgeou) Carpenter in Los Angeles, California. He was the oldest of 4 siblings-his youngest brother, Mike, his late brother Dave, and his sister Kathy.

Kenneth proudly served in the U.S. Army for 3 years. He attended military training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas where he trained as a medic. He was stationed in Fulda, Germany, at the Fulda Gap with the 501st Medical Company.

In 1969 he met and married the love of his life, Linda (Turner) Carpenter. They were married in Zephyr Cove, Nv. at Lake Tahoe.

Shortly after getting married, Kenneth began his career with the U.S. Forest Service where he worked for over 20 years. Although he was based in Southern California, his job took him all over the western United States where he worked alongside fire crews battling wildfires, operating heavy fire equipment, and transporting supplies to fire camps. He also served as a trainer for the U.S. Forest Service teaching classes in CPR, First Aid, and driver safety.

In 1995 Ken embarked on his second career as a Division of the State Architect (DSA) Building Inspector. He worked on numerous school construction projects throughout San Bernardino County until he retired in 2008.

Kenneth had a great love for the outdoors, having spent most of his childhood fishing, hunting, camping, and exploring the woods near his home in Illinois. As a husband and father, he shared his love of the outdoors with his family. Together with his wife Linda and two daughters, Amy and Robin, they created many cherished memories. Summers spent fishing and boating at Lake Havasu, beach camping in San Diego, snowy winter adventures in Arrow Bear, beach trips to Ensenada, Mx., and many more. Another way Ken shared his love for the outdoors was to bring home gifts for his young daughters. Often these gifts were treasures he collected, such as ordinary-looking rocks with beautiful quartz crystals inside, pieces of petrified wood, and all manner of fossilized objects. Much to the delight of his daughters (and to the dismay of his wife), he would also bring home special gifts like tarantulas, lizards, and a wide variety of snakes. To this day both of his daughters are rockhounds and fans of reptiles. To this day, his wife is not.

After retirement, Ken and Linda enjoyed many years of traveling across the United States in their travel trailer. Along with their faithful dogs, Daisy and Rusty, they visited 29 states and traveled coast to coast several times. Along the way, they visited National Parks and Monuments, gulf coast beaches, mountains, rivers, lakes, and everything in between. Ken was an avid fisherman and loved to fish everywhere they went. Those carefree months spent on the road together were some of the best times of their lives.

Ken’s favorite hobbies were fishing, boating, walking his dogs, backyard bird watching, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. Especially his granddaughter Lilly (15) with whom he shared a special bond. Ken was very sociable and chatted with everyone, making fast friends everywhere he went. He never missed an opportunity to crack a corny joke or to have an impromptu dance party. He loved to dance and made a mean Bloody Mary. He was cantankerous and he was stubborn. Really stubborn. He was perfectly imperfect and will be missed dearly by all that knew him.

Kenneth is survived by his loving wife Linda (Redding, Ca.) his two daughters- Amy Futakawa & husband Kenichi (Martinez, Ca.) Robin Hanke (Redding, Ca.), his siblings- Mike Carpenter (Eureka, Ca.) Kathy Taylor (Pomona, Ca.) and his granddaughter Lilly Hanke (Redding, Ca.)

A Celebration of Life will take place in Spring Valley Lake, Ca. on Sunday, June 25th at 12pm. Friends and family are invited to join. Please refer to the events tab for more information.

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