Guest Book
Nova
Quincy and I would spend many weekend sleepovers together. My earliest memory of Gary goes back quite a few years. Being dropped off, I’d typically go through the garage where he was always busy with various hobbies. I can picture him wearing his Velcro pant straps gearing up for a bike ride, by tuning up his latest and greatest bike OR loading a kayak onto the roof rack before heading to Peace Valley. As soon as he would see me, he’d stop whatever he was doing and enthusiastically greet me, always making me feel like he was excited to see me.
Occasionally, I’d hop into the kayak and go on an adventure with him. On one particular adventure, we took the kayak out to Corson’s Inlet in Ocean City. He was full of conversation and little tidbits of facts, but what I will remember most is our return. As we were heading back, a wave kicked up and tipped us over. Most likely we tipped over because I wasn’t paddling enough. What’s memorable about this moment, is that he just started laughing and talking about how the salt water was good for you. (Mind you, he was in his 60’s at that point, so I’m sure it didn’t feel great). He sure had a knack for making you feel better even if you messed up.
Years later, I moved into my own home just a few neighborhoods away from Gary & Evelyn. Gary would often been spotted riding through the neighborhood. Each time, I’d be greeted with the same enthusiasm as if seeing me had made his day. Gary was full of knowledge, creativity, and zest for life. He taught us many life lessons, but what I’ll remember most is how he always made you feel special. Quincy & Evelyn, I know you will miss him terribly, but it’s impossible not to smile when we think of him.
Farewell to Gary
I'm deeply saddened to share the passing of an extraordinary individual, Gary Carpenter, who was not just my friend Quincy’s father but a monumental figure in my life. Back in 1996-1997, as an exchange student in the USA, I was blessed to form an unlikely friendship with Gary. Despite our vast age difference, he taught me the true essence of friendship, transcending boundaries of age and culture.
Gary was a man of wisdom, fun, and humility. Never once did he overshadow anyone with his vast knowledge, yet you always knew you were in the presence of someone truly remarkable. He made everyone around him feel valued and seen, a testament to his incredible character.
To me, Gary was more than a friend; he was a role model—the kind of person I aspire to be. His impact on my life is immeasurable. He showed me the importance of kindness, the strength of humility, and the value of friendship. Reflecting on his influence, I often think, if I could be even one-tenth the person he was, I would feel my existence has truly fulfilled its purpose. This thought alone inspires me daily to be better, to embrace the essence of genuine human connection as he did.
He was a devoted husband to Eve and a loving father to Quincy, exemplifying the virtues of family and love in every action. Gary's legacy is one of compassion, wisdom, and genuine human connection.
As I mourn his passing, I find solace in the memories we shared and the lessons he imparted. Gary Carpenter's influence will forever remain a guiding light in my life.
Rest in peace, Gary. Your spirit lives on in the hearts of those you've touched. I am forever grateful for the moments we shared and the wisdom you bestowed upon me. You truly made this world a better place.
By Ali Galip Ayvat
Laura Vella
Philadelphia PA
I attended one of his lectures as an invited speaker for A.I. DuPont Grand Rounds. He opened his lecture slide deck with a painting. I thought, “Classic.”
Ali Galip Ayvat
One day, Gary asked me a profound question: "What do you dislike the most in life?" Without hesitation, I responded, "Unfairness." His reply was something that has stayed with me ever since. He looked at me with a knowing expression and said, "Oh Ali, life isn’t fair." Those simple words carried a deep truth, and in that moment, I realized I was receiving a powerful lesson from a truly wise man. It was a reminder that life’s inequities are inevitable, but how we respond to them shapes our character and resilience.
Jeb Carpenter
Melbourne Beach, FL
My favorite story is when Gary took me sail planning. It wasn’t a super spectacular flight, but we flew up to 3000 feet. We were released and then he showed me how to climb up to 6000 feet. Since I had not met him until I was 31 years old. It was very special to have this High Point in our relationship. I am delighted the flight ended uneventfully as reading his book that wasn’t always the case.
Anna Marie Miller
March 12, 2024
Sending my deepest condolences to Dr Carpenter’s family. I met Dr Carpenter at TJUH as a worked as a nurse in NICU. He was always kind speaking to the parents of the patients he was asked to consult with. For a time we were on the same schedule and often sat together on the train from North Wales to Center City. He always was drawing mostly faces from what I remember. He also rode his bike from Lansdale to North Wales train station. One late afternoon we exited the train and it was pouring rain. I offered to put his bike in my trunk and take him home. He said thanks but I’m okay. As I’m sitting in my car with the windshield wipers going fast back and forth there was Dr Carpenter in a yellow rain coat biking away. Very sorry for your loss. He lived a long and good life.
Paula Duckett
Paris, France
I offer you my sincerest condoleances upon the passing of your father.
He was the first person Serge introduced to me when I first came to Philly. He piled Serge and me into his sports car and took us for a ride to Fairmont Park. He took us to the Whispering Towers in the park. He was and remained Serge's most interesting friend. He and Serge were the "bad boys" at Jefferson; they were divorced , handsome, smart and had young girlfriends.
Every year Ev would invite Serge and me to have Thanksgiving with her and Gary and we had a great time and the meal was always terrific. Even though we left Philly in 1995 we always remained in contact with your parents and they were the only ones to be brave enough to visit us in Sassafras.
Gary and Serge had long, productive lives and were always surrounded lots of love.
Bonnie Rosen
Long Boat Key, Florida
Our initial connection with Gary was through his daughter Quincy when she was just a little one. Gary and Evelyn registered Quincy in our Lansdale educational center called the Wooly Bear Day Care School. What started out as a service relationship developed into a deep friendship for over forty years. It was so evident through our many social connections that Gary was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. His family meant everything to him. He would often share these treasured times with his loved ones. We were also so impressed with his endurance and strength evidenced through his dedication to numerous physical hobbies like biking, kayaking, and sailing.
Gary, as you know, was an incredible man. In addition to being a renown physician and professor, he was a glider pilot, an author and a gifted and accomplished artist and musician. His beautiful and creative Christmas designs were a highlight of our holiday greeting cards and we eagerly awaited their arrival. Gary is a true “Renaissance Man”. He could share his amazing knowledge, peppered with humor, wit and deep thinking, on any subject that could come up in conversation. In our opinion, Gary is “the most interesting man in the world!”
Along with his many talents, our lasting memory is his warm and endearing smile. He was always so caring, charming and unendingly kind. Whenever you were with him, he made you feel welcomed and so special. To know Gary is to love him! We are deeply saddened with his passing, but have so many cherished memories of our dear Gary which we will treasure in our hearts and souls forever.
Betsy Meehan
Because I was tired from running my new French Café in North Wales, we ate out more than normal. We tried out Toscano one evening and I was sitting facing a painting of Provence, where I had spent time as an exchange student. During dinner there were 2 guys playing piano alternatively- it was so pleasant! Just before leaving I went to the bathroom and stopped on my way back to tell the tall guy how much I really enjoyed his light, jazzy music! He immediately told me that the other guy, Tom, was much better, but I insisted that I enjoyed HIS playing the best. Then he mentioned that they both had painted all the artwork on the walls! He told me Tom was a much better artist. I asked who had painted the wonderful French scenes that I had been so enjoying, and of course they were his! So then I mentioned that I owned a small little café he might enjoy, and he and Evelyn showed up I believe that following Saturday morning and we gradually got to be great friends! I put 2 of his prints up on my café walls, with his info underneath, which led Betty & Jim O’Brien to reconnect with him when she saw his name because she’d worked for him as a nurse many years before! My home has several of his prints on the walls and all his lovely Christmas cards on my piano.
I think of Gary so often. I miss that grin and the humble man with so much talent and kindness. He left a bigger hole than most when he left this world. I really miss him.
Christina Taneyhill
“The first time I met Gary was during a beach trip in Ocean City, NJ. I had worked at Dairy Queen and he saw me cutting one up for breakfast, banana split-style- cut length wise. He was tickled by this and mentioned my skill most every time I saw him after that.”
Julia Anthony
I celebrated my 30th birthday over lunch with Dr. Carpenter. This human crossed the continent six times before the age of six by himself starting at the age of 4. After developing a condition resulting in countless surgeries, he taught himself how to walk again. He's sled down the mountains in Switzerland, and lived in Hawaii. An electrical engineer in the war, he repaired gun turrets on aircraft carriers. He never wanted to be a doctor and only took biology because he could draw the best crayfish compared to his classmates. And because of this human, I am alive.
Joe Krajci
Wauwatosa, WI
I admired Gary for about 50 years as the coolest renaissance man I ever knew, enjoying life to the fullest with diverse talents. My memory goes back to dinners with Eve & Gary at their downtown apartment in my late teens, enjoying Eve’s culinary skills and Gary’s eclectic and diverse conversations.
He was a “rare bird” in the best sense of the word. On top of being cool, I always admired his calmness, his ability to listen and to make everyone feel they were important and valued. Despite being immensely talented in a wide range of areas and being very intelligent, he was soft-spoken & humble.
He was a heck of a role model. One of a kind that enriched the world around him.
Thanks Gary
Love Joe
“Gary, Evelyn and Quincy invited me to a Bermuda spring break trip while Quincy and I were at UD. I’ve always been amazed at how he was so creative, fun, and passionate with life.”
— Meghan Cavanaugh
“He was such a wonderful, charismatic, literary, gracious soul.”
— Hilary Mohaupt
“Clara had a birthday party at the Community Arts Center and Gary made the most beautiful sketches of the kids. McKinley treasured her drawing and so did we.”
— Tayler Moots
“I remember him telling me to go ahead and have a glass of wine when I was pregnant, as the French do.”
— Laura Glaudel
Andy Smith
Lansdale, PA
My wife Megan and I first met Gary and Evelyn when we moved in across the street from them in 2004. More specifically I first met Gary when I was chopping away at an apple tree stump in my backyard with an axe. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a tall distinguished gentleman carrying his own axe who asked me if I would mind if he chopped at the stump as well. That set the stage for our interactions over the next 20 years with one of our people or houses needing help with something, vice versa, or neither needing anything at all but wanting to share with very good friends. The Carpenters would bring over the most delicious peaches and we would insist they take smoked bbq chicken thighs.
In 2009 we welcomed our daughter Sarah into our world, and our end of the street, and Gary and Evelyn were there waiting for us when we lifted the newborn in her car seat cocoon. Two years later our son Nate was born and again Gary and Evelyn were instantly a big part of his life. I can't count how many times we appealed to Gary for medical advice about nervous new parent things and he never failed to reduce our anxiety and reassure us that the kids will be fine. Our parents live far away and we imposed upon the Carpenters to be honorary grandparents to our kids, celebrating holidays and birthdays and just generally sharing in special events. Sarah decided to pronounce Gary’s name as “Gigi” and that name stuck, becoming part of our family vocabulary. She and Nate cared a great deal for Gigi, enjoyed his stories and miss him like crazy.
We had a sunporch with jalousie windows that wasn't much good at keeping cold out in winter, or heat out in summer, but it proved to be an ideal spot to set up a short (5 yard) pellet gun shooting range. We succeeded in spending many Sunday mornings subduing hostile soda cans and paper targets, and avoided the ever present danger of shooting one's eye out! Gary was quite a good shot, it should be noted, and he relished in the enjoyment of finely crafted mechanical devices.
On another occasion of mostly harmless destructive fun, I received a shipment that contained dry ice. Naturally, Gary and I experimented with the dry ice by putting chunks in a coffee cup, pouring water on it to make cool spooky movie fog, squirted soap on it to make amazing fractal bubbles. Then our thoughts turned to expansion, so we put a chunk in a partially full 1 liter seltzer bottle, tightened the cap and I threw it into our front yard. It is at this part of telling the story where my lovely wife Megan reminds me she had just put Baby Sarah down for a nap. Anyway, Gary and I observed no effect from the seltzer bottle experiment and just about when we are about to retrieve it to investigate ... BOOM!!!! Gary and I exchanged proud looks before realizing that law enforcement might arrive to investigate such an explosion so we scurried inside my house to hide out, peering out the windows like the pair of school kids that we (mentally) were.
My family is grateful for Gary and Evelyn having come into our lives. We could not have asked for better neighbors and didn't completely realize the importance of having good neighbors before we met them.
-Andy Smith (on behalf of Megan, Sarah, Nate, Merida and our dear departed Atticus)
I honestly don’t remember my first meeting with Gary (and Evelyn) Carpenter! I remember Caroline coming home when she was first acquainted with Quincy, and had been invited over for a meal. “Quincy’s mom cuts her fruit up in a bowl and irons Quincy’s clothes for her! How come you don’t do that for us, Mom?” So it was knowing Quincy that helped introduce me (and my departed husband, Glenn) to the Carpenters. I knew Gary as a friend for going on 35 years.
We spent some time at band concerts, met for dinners, went to out-of-town band parent trips, and attended several of Gary’s art shows in those early years. Then we were invited to a concert series with Gary and Ev, the Upper Gwynedd Township Concert series, on occasion. We also heard Gary perform music many Friday nights at the local Italian restaurant where he and Evelyn entertained and met us many times.
Gary and Glenn took an instant liking to each other, as they both were readers, lovers of music, world travelers and interested in all things medical. I took an instant liking to both Gary and Evelyn because they were such a friendly couple, so down-to-earth and never put on airs! Gary was the opposite of a doctor who “thinks he’s God”. He seemed to be on a search for knowledge and offered to read up on any subjects with which we approached him.
I got to know Gary better when we spent some time at the beach, and bonded on several subjects dear to both of our hearts. Gary loved teaching, and although he felt he was approaching years when he could retire, he didn’t want to give up that feeling of sharing knowledge with the younger generation. He drew me in, when I was a rather new teacher, asking what it is like teaching small children and comparing that with teaching medical students as adults. He was so curious about everything that he never got bored and spent a huge amount of time reading and learning.
He also was a model in getting daily exercise; if he was near water, he kayaked, but when he was working, he rode his bike. He practiced his music on many different levels and , and he listened to jazz and classical music whenever he had the time. He knew what he liked, and although he did not particularly like vocal music, he respected and grew to enjoy the Voices of Gwynedd concerts, of which I was a part. I think he genuinely liked knowing what makes people “tick” so-to-speak, and therefore never lost his interest in others.
Our family spent several Thanksgiving dinners with Ev, Gary and Quincy, and although Gary didn’t particularly love crowds, the crowds loved him! All of our family and friends knew and loved him, and looked forward to his jokes, stories and wisdom. After my husband Glenn died, Gary and Evelyn included me in many of their family gatherings and Saturday night dinners, since I was pretty much at a loss for a few years.
Gary and Ev spent New Year’s Eve with Emily and me in Arizona the year we accompanied the North Penn Band on their annual trip. While Caroline, Quincy, and the band members practiced and performed, we traveled with Gary and Ev; Gary taught Emily how to drive a stick shift on one afternoon on our rented car! I can’t recount the many wonderful dinners, parties, concerts and football games we attended together, but I can say that Gary was a true friend, and that when my husband died, he was disconsolate for me as well as for himself.
Gary was easy to engage, and after asking many questions about his childhood, Navy experience, medical school and teaching career, he allowed me to read the book of memoirs of his life. I came to understand that he had learned patience, perseverance and a positive attitude after being a rather sick child and overcoming the obstacles to that illness. He also told us of his very early heart problems and how he embarked on the road to longevity through diet, exercise and good health practices. We all know that Evelyn’s loving care also contributed to Gary’s life, as she accommodated some of his eccentricities. One that I grew quite fond of and participated in often, was his five o’clock vodka cocktail. He often told me that “some people choose religion to help them along, and others choose alcohol. I have chosen my once-a-day vodka.”
I could write and talk about Gary’s many wonderful qualities, but I think it is summed up with my thoughts that Gary liked and respected people all his life. Up until the very last time I saw him he was always happy to greet me, interested in our life and family, and understood the irony in life- what makes us react with laughter or sorrow, the search for meaning in life, the need to be creative, and the constant search for knowledge.
I do miss Gary terribly, and I know we all do, most of all Evelyn and Quincy. Gary is not a person I will ever forget, and I know for sure that I treasure the memory and image of his happy smile when he greeted me, his jovial attitude toward life, and his kind generosity of spirit.
Tina Madison
Woodbine, MD
Quincy and I have always been dear friends since North Penn Marching Knights. Gary and Evelyn were always our biggest fans including our trip to Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl. Quincy was such a dear friend to me in high school. I was so attracted to her free spirit nature and her simple love for life. She had so many passions and interests, and I soon realized that Gary’s influence had shaped who she was. And Evelyn was always such a big part of my memory as well - she always graciously opened up her home to me and is such a kind and beautiful soul.
I followed my role model, Quincy, to the University of Delaware. When she was a freshman, and I was a high school senior, I went to visit Quincy for a weekend. It solidified my decision to be a Blue Hen!
Gary, Evelyn and Quincy invited me on a spring break trip my freshman year and Quincy’s sophomore year…..to Bermuda! It was such an amazing my experience and they were both so generous to me. Quincy and I enjoyed a ton of Heinekens in Bermuda while Gary and Evelyn were delayed due to an issue in flying out of Philadelphia. We had such a phenomenal trip - gorgeous weather, amazing dinners out, hiking, and bike riding.
Evelyn and Quincy, Gary was such a bright light in this world. You are both in my thoughts as you move forward without him. May you seize each and every day with such vigor, energy and hope like Gary did.
All my love,
Meghan Cavanaugh (Boyle)