LONGTIME LANTANAN JACK CARPENTER DIES AT 86
LANTANA — The founder of Lantana’s historical society and a former town councilman, Jack Carpenter, has died, leaving a legacy that includes the preservation of an 1800s cemetery and a 1920s schoolhouse.
At 86, his death still came too early by at least two chapters, said his longtime partner in preservation, Rosemary Mouring, the current historical society president who was collaborating on a book of Lantana’s history.
“He had no business leaving,” Mouring said with more sorrow than grudge for her friend of more than 40 years.
“If it was up to me, he’d be remembered as the guy who kept the town on target. I mean he was a stickler for making sure this town did not ruin our history or anything else. A one-man fireball,” Mouring said.
Carpenter’s family agreed the man had boundless energy and was active until he had a massive heart attack last week and died days later, on Friday, in the hospital, daughter Julie Carpenter-May said Sunday.
The plaques lining the office in his Lantana home attest to a man who rarely slowed since moving there in 1958. Born in Muncie, Ind., job prospects drew Carpenter, an Air Force veteran of the Korean War, to Florida. Eventually, he worked at Pratt & Whitney as a jet test operator and later an engineer.
Carpenter retired from Pratt & Whitney after 25 years of service but did not slow down. He served as Chamber of Commerce president and held a seat on the Town Council for several years.
But Carpenter will likely best be remembered for his work to oppose plans to level Lantana Elementary School, a four-room schoolhouse built in 1929 where his wife, Clara, had taught and his four children were once students. Carpenter formed the Lantana Historical Society to fight for its preservation. The building stands today on the corner of the school property where a more modern campus was erected for students.
“It survived because we fought for it. Jack fought tooth and nail,” Mouring said.
In 2013, Carpenter presided over another success, the rededication of the Evergreen Cemetery. The overgrown patch at Lantana Road and North Arnold Avenue had been all but forgotten by most residents. Carpenter worked for years to clear the weeds and have the state recognize its historic significance as the burial spot for the town’s founding families, including the postmaster who gave Lantana its name.
Carpenter didn’t always win — the art deco-styled A.G. Holley Hospital building is gone.
“Yeah, we tried our best to save that building, but money got in the way of history,” Mouring said.
But Carpenter and Mouring were on a new preservation path: a book. “He has so much knowledge about Lantana ..... He’s going to be very missed.”
Carpenter is survived by his wife, Clara; their four children, Edwin Carpenter, Jerry Carpenter, Patty Fields and Julie Carpenter-May; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his youngest brother, Tom Carpenter.
A viewing will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday at Dorsey-E. Earl Smith Memory Gardens Funeral Home. The funeral will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Maranatha Bible Church, 900 Broadway in Lantana.