Memorial services for Ernest J. Carpenter, age 88, of rural Milbank, will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 20, 2009, at the Valley Baptist Church in Milbank. The Reverend Dennis Webber will officiate. Ernie died on Wednesday, June 17, 2009, at his farm home. The organist will be Loretha Webber. The vocalists will be Sherry DeBoer and Mark Boerger. The accompanist will be Barb Bear. It was Ernie's wish that he be cremated. There will be no visitation. Ernie was born on October 1, 1920, in Madison County, Arkansas, to Squire Thomas and Maudie Louise (Burks) Carpenter. He was raised in Arkansas and Oklahoma. He later moved with his family to Woodland, CA. Ernie graduated from Woodland High School in 1938. After graduation, he served in the Civilian Conservation Corp after which he went to Fairbanks, Alaska, where he worked for a gold mining company. In 1942 he returned to Woodland. Ernie enlisted in the Army Air Corps on April 21, 1942. He served his country during WW II in the European Theatre. He received the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the Distinguished Unit Badge. Ernie was honorably discharged on November 7, 1945. He was united in marriage to Marjorie Everett on November 7, 1944, in Gulfport, Mississippi. After his discharge, he became a self-employed trucker until 1953. He and Marjorie moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where they built and managed the Silver Spruce Motel. They moved back to Woodland, CA, in 1957, where he was employed by Adams, Schwab, and Adams Grain Company as a manager of a grain elevator. In 1974 they returned to Alaska where he helped build a huge barge which carried seven loaded supply trucks across the Yukon River while the Alaska Pipeline was being built. He retired in 1986. He and his wife moved to rural Milbank where they purchased a dairy farm. He attended the Valley Baptist Church and was a member of the Birch-Miller American Legion Post #9 in Milbank. He was also a past leader and Cub Master in the Boy Scouts of America. Ernie was skilled in designing and building metal warehouse equipment. He also built grain and lumber trailers. He enjoyed country life, hunting, fishing, and adventuring. Ernie was an avid reader. Survivors include his wife Marjorie, rural Milbank, SD; three sons, Larry Carpenter and wife Teresa, Vista, CA; Lee Carpenter and wife Tina, Watertown, SD; and Kelly Carpenter and wife Kari, rural Milbank; one daughter, Judy Batchelder and husband Richard, Spokane, WA; one daughter-in-law, Barbara Carpenter, Hope, Idaho; fourteen grandchildren; sixteen great grandchildren; three great great, grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, one son Gary, two brothers, two sisters, and two grandchildren.