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Oliver "Babe" Carpentier, 80
Oliver "Babe" Francis Carpentier, II, 80, of Mountain Home, died Saturday, July 28, 2007, at his home.
A viewing was held Wednesday, Aug. 1, at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, followed by a graveside service at 11 a.m. at Mountain View Cemetery.
Arrangements were under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.
Babe was born on Aug. 31, 1926, in Garden Valley to Oliver and Carrie Mae (Smith) Carpentier. Babe grew up in Garden Valley and was raised by his "Grandma Fannin" from the age of eight years old. He and his Uncle Louie, who was about six to eight weeks older than Babe, took his grandma's chickens and tried to teach them to swim. They had to throw them back in the water three times before they drowned.
Babe joined the Navy when he was 17 years old and served on the USS Rowan, a heavy destroyer, in World War II. He also helped build the Anderson Ranch Dam, and was a logger up in the area of Headquarters and Lolo. He then went to work for the Civil Service at the water plant on Mountain Home Air Force Base for 23 years until his retirement.
Babe met and married Oneita B. Hills on Feb. 21, 1953, "and they stayed together through thick and thin until his death," his family said. "Babe loved going hunting, fishing and camping out with family. He enjoyed going to the mountains for firewood with his son in-law, Russ Young, and brother in-law Birl Watkins." Babe harvested a moose while hunting with his son, Ronnie, and brother-in-law, Birl, in 1993.
Babe is survived by: his wife, Oneita, of Mountain Home; his son, Gary, and his wife, Corina Carpentier, of Elk City; his son, Dennie Carpentier of Mountain Home; his daughter, Carlene, and her husband, Russ Young, of Mountain Home; his sister in-law, Edna, and her husband, Birl Watkins, of Mountain Home; his sister in-law, JoAnn Vitatoe of Mountain Home; a brother in-law, John ,and his wife, Rosalie Cramer, of Boise; 14 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a son, Ronnie Carpentier, and a son, Alfred Carpentier.