Virginia C. Carpenter April 5, 1913 - January 4, 2013

Virginia (Ginny) Chandler Carpenter was born in Tewksbury, Mass. on April 5, 1913. She was married to Nelson Carpenter Sr. on August 31, 1946. On January 4, 2013 at 2:21 A. M., the Spirit of the Lord entered her body and began turning out the lights in her body, room by room until there was total darkness with the exception of the shining light of her soul and spirit as they ascended to heaven to live eternally with her Heavenly Father. She is survived by her son Bobby Briggs and his wife Linda; her son Nelson Jr. and his wife Colette; her daughter Nancy Jean and her husband Denny and a long list of grandchildren, great grandchildren and even a few great great grandchildren. Ginny loved her family and like most mom’s, dedicated her life to them by sharing, inspiring and teaching them about life. She loved reading books and working cross word puzzles. She was a member of Ozark Presbyterian Church and always enjoyed fellowship opportunities and spending some time with members of the congregation. She had a strong faith in God and followed his examples in loving and helping others. She was a positive person and always saw the best in everyone and looked at life through rose colored glasses. Her positive attitude and outlook on life was very inspiring. She was always such a happy go lucky person and always had a smile on her face and a hug and smooch for every one of her friends and family members. She was an extremely friendly individual and therefore never knew a stranger. She could go to the doctor’s office and by the time they called her name, she typically knew everyone in the waiting room by their first name. She had several sayings but her favorites were; “I love you Deah”, “All this and Heaven too” and “Love you big big”, all said with her New England accent. She enjoyed almost 100 years of excellent health and always had a smile on her wrinkle free face. On the evening of December 27th, 2012, Ginny suffered a heart attack which was followed by 3 strokes on the following day while in the hospital. She made an amazing recovery on Saturday in spite of the damage to her heart which was irreversible. She was dismissed from the hospital on Sunday and returned to her home under the care of her family and hospice. The family had a wonderful opportunity to spend time with her during her last days while she rested in her comfortable bedroom surrounded by loved ones. She was well prepared for her journey to Heaven and was ready to go home at last. As the family gathered around her bed, she slowly gave them her last bit of sound advice which was; “Don’t cry, be happy. God is forgiving”. The photo on the back side of this memorial is that of Ginny’s and her granddaughter’s hand. May God bless her for all the years of joy and happiness she provided and shared with all her family and friends. If only we could all live ours lives as Ginny did, what a wonderful world this would be! Ginny will be missed by all but the memories of her will last forever! Memorial services for Virginia were held 1:00 p.m., Friday, January 11, 2013 at Barnes Family Funeral Home, Ozark. Interment followed at Missouri Veterans Cemetery, Springfield. Online condolences may be shared at www.barnesfamilyfunerals.com.