Elaine Barrett Carpenter

Elaine Louise Barrett Carpenter, 95, of Loveland, Colorado, has taken her final trip and arrived home to the embrace of her beloved Jesus on March 7, 2018. The gas mileage on that one was a bookkeeper’s dream. Elaine was born September 5, 1922 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Arnold and Esther Barrett. She graduated from Minneapolis’s North High School in 1940. After Graduation, she attended a business training program where she learned bookkeeping, a skill in which she was naturally brilliant. She joined the Waves (Women’s Navy) in 1943 during WWII and completed boot camp at Hunter College in Bronx, New York. Afterward she was stationed at Moffett Field near Santa Clara, CA. She loved her time in the Navy and the opportunity she had to serve her country. Following her time in the Navy, Elaine returned to Minneapolis and began the next adventure of her life, motherhood. Her daughter Carol Elizabeth was born on July 26, 1945. She and Carol moved to Redondo Beach, California in 1952 to live near Elaine’s brother Roger and his wife Mae. A lifelong family friend, Frank Carpenter, was also living in California at the time and was counseled by his mother to go reintroduce himself to Elaine. Well mothers sometimes know best and they fell in love and were married in November 1956. On October 15, 1957, they celebrated the birth of their son, Bryan Frank. For the next twenty-two years they raised their children in the Santa Barbara area. Elaine supplied a second income for much of that time, doing bookkeeping and accounting in a CPA's office. She loved to sing, always a strong alto voice in church choir. Upon Frank's retirement in 1978, they moved to Mesa, AZ They spent their summers enjoying their mutual passion for travel by journeying across North America with their trailer. Their most major trip was a 35,000 mile trip around much of the United States. They welcomed Bryan’s wife Dianne into the family on September 17, 1983 and first grandchild Joseph Bryan on Jan. 2, 1986. Less than a week later Frank passed away from cancer. The addition of two more grandchildren, Lisa Elaine on March 29, 1987 and Raychel Anne on November 17, 1988, made up Elaine’s mind to move to Loveland, CO in Spring 1988. Elaine loved her family with all of her heart and was happiest when with them. She has spent these last 3 decades watching her grandkids grow up and joining them for all sorts of crazy adventures and trips. She enjoyed talking with her son on the phone each night and connecting with her daughter through emails and visits. Her mind was sharp as a tack right up until the last week or so. She remembered details so perfectly and could tell you the exact date for every event of her life. I wish she was here to help me write this. She remembered every address where she ever lived and kept meticulous record of her travels, listing destinations, mileage and gas prices. She had a love of family history and put together a truly impressive collection of documents and pictures, traveling to cities and villages all over the US and Europe to track down this or that family member’s information. She had a very kind and giving heart, happy to offer her help anywhere it was needed. During her years in Loveland, she volunteered over 15,000 hours at McKee Medical Center, keeping the books for the gift shop and scanning paper medical records onto microfiche. She loved going out to breakfast, and waffles, and strawberry ice cream. But most of all she loved her dear family. Elaine is preceded in death by her parents Arnold and Esther, brothers Roger and Gordon (Dorcas), husband Frank, and many family and friends. She is survived by her daughter Carol, son Bryan (Dianne), sister-In-Law Mae, three grandchildren Joseph, Lisa (John Mark) and Raychel, and two great-grandchildren Haven and Mary. Funeral services will be held at Viegut Funeral Home on Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 11:00 A.M. with viewing 1 hour prior to services and a reception at the Viegut Reception Center following services.