Obituary of Carmen Carpenter

Born in Bronx, New York, in 1934, Carmen enjoyed a lively friendship with her gal pals dancing, attending parades, listening to Elvis, and chatting on various apartment stoops.  During World War II, she worked for the U.S. Navy typing up orders for young sailors to deploy overseas.  While attending a dance she met Roy Carpenter, who closely resembled Elvis.  The young couple moved to Virginia where they began a family with their first-born Belinda.  They later resettled in South Florida where the family continued to grow with Gregory, Connie, and Grace. In addition to raising a family and listening to the Beatles, Carmen augmented the family income by taking bets at Dania Jai Lai.  She attributed her lifetime of fitness and strong legs to her two decades of running up and down stairs in the fronton.  She later worked for the Broward County Road Department serving as head dispatcher and payroll clerk.  In addition to caring for Roy and the kids, Carmen loved her four-legged pets.  She supported numerous animal shelters and societies.  Upon retirement and Roy’s death, Carmen accomplished a life-long dream of living near the beach by moving to Indialantic.  She enjoyed her evening walks on the beach with dogs Gussie, Bella, and Annie. Carmen died peacefully on December 21st.  Days before her death, nurses recalled Carmen blissfully singing Paul McCartney’s tunes in her room.  Carmen is survived by all four of her children, the jewel of her life-granddaughter Jessica, loyal caro amico and custode Kenny, and her brother David and his wife Donna. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 11th at Ammen Family Cremation and Funeral Care, 1001 South Hickory St., Melbourne.