Tears fell from the heavens. The skies opened up. The Lord welcomed home one of his flock. Embracing him into his arms.
Dennie Roy Carpenter left this earth late Sunday May 18th, 2023 surrounded by his loved ones and listening to his favorite songs, or as he would say, "getting ready for the party in the sky." Like everything he did in life, he valiantly fought against widespread Stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma. His symptoms first presented themselves in October of 2023. Ending his battle, he accepted his fate and embraced his next journey into the afterlife.
Dennie was born in the small town of Valley Station, KY on March 6, 1960 to Virgil Roy Carpenter and Margaret Ann Abel. He said his last goodbyes to his younger brother, Darryl R Carpenter. He learned the value of hard work through Catholic school and through his relationship with Paul Melton. Paul was a mentor and took him under his wing at a young age. Dennie often shared stories of work in Paul's fields & store. His ambitious nature led to his employment at the International Harvester Production Facility under his Father's supervision, where he learned his love for mechanics. At the age of 18, he made a commitment to the U.S. Army and served his country as Tank Commander. His service included a deployment to Berlin, Germany during the removal of the wall, at the end of the Cold War. He learned the value of resources and taught this trait throughout his time in the military. He received an honorable discharge after 9 years, 4 being Active Duty, 5 in the Reserves, and receiving the rank of E-5 Sergeant. During this time, he had his first daughter, Tiffany Renee, then son Jason Michael. He then met the love of his life, "sitting on her front porch painting her toenails." He often laughed about their first date and how "she ordered nothing but a PEPSI." Dennie married Mary Alice Patterson on January 17th, 1984. Their adventure began and he took an oath to take care of Mary's sons, Jesse Ray & William Michael Lancaster. Together they had two beautiful daughters, Crystal Fadetta & Elizabeth Ann Marie, that were made that way by eating lots of burnt food. Because "burnt makes you pretty."
After his military service, he began his 10-year career as a Corrections Officer for the State of Kentucky. He served at one of the most notoriously dangerous facilities in Lagrange and later moved to a juvenile detention center. One can only imagine the toll this had on his physical & mental health. He held many odd jobs after leaving Corrections, but this did not deter him from providing for his family. He instilled his strengths into his children every day he took a breath. He spent countless early 3 a.m. mornings and late evenings with his family delivering door-to-door everything from newspapers, to laundry detergent, and yes, even GIANT bags of toilet paper rolls. The value of humility and hard work never took a back seat in his eyes. This always kept his family taken care of, by any means necessary. He fostered his love for mechanics and proved on many occasions how things can be fixed with a little elbow grease. One of our vehicles ran for many years with a BIC pen tube in the carburetor, another was a Ford Ranger that was almost entirely fully submerged. He was convinced that we were going to "make it" through the flood waters. Sadly, he was proven wrong by the muddy water rushing in on us and the newspapers floating out the back.
In 2000, he moved his family to Bozeman, MT and enrolled as a student at Montana State University through the Department of English Literature. Throughout his studies, he had several poems and short stories published. Little did he realize, he taught his daughters the importance of creativity, personal expression, and created "FIERCELY INDEPENDENT INDIVIDUALS." He would cultivate the many faces of anarchism through his love of music, literature, admiration of social figures such as Abbie Hoffman, and emphasizing important historical events. Even dressing in drag to drive home a point to his peers in college, before it was a highly politicized issue. He would later realize that he was one of the many faces of mental illness. He embraced the courage it took to recognize the harm it creates left untreated. When he was able, he gave back to his community, leading support groups for Gallatin Valley Mental Health and the Bozeman NAMI program. He will forever continue to challenge us all to embrace the concept of forgiveness and the strength it takes to truly heal.
Dennie never wanted to be defined by anything, especially cancer.
In his own words, "Today. The end of the concept of time." And through those of his favorite authors: "For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know elude us. But we can still love them- we can love completely without complete understanding." Norman Maclean
To honor his wishes, we will be holding a Celebration of Life at a later date, we will keep everyone posted through his & his families Facebook profiles. He would want us to express his gratitude for everyone in his life, past and present.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com
