Joseph A. Carpenter Jr.

Biography

Joe Carpenter’s art ranged from aircraft decoration to advertising, landscapes and golf cartoons. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1921, the son of Joseph A. Carpenter and Bessie Peck, he grew up in Rehoboth, in southeastern Massachusetts, and studied at Taunton High School and the Rhode Island School of Design. During the Second World War he served as an armorer with the 379th Fighter Squadron and decorated aircraft.

His civilian career included illustration for the Providence Journal and twenty-four years as art director at Fram Corporation. He painted portraits and watercolours, drew television caricatures and published the golf-cartoon book Only Golfers Know the Feeling.

Carpenter joined the Providence Art Club in 1952, served on its board, and spent twenty-six years as a trustee of the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society.

He married Nancy Alberta Walker in 1949; their daughter was Polly Jane Carpenter. Nancy died in 2013. Joe died on September 18, 2014 at Hattie Ide Chaffee Home, aged 93.

His commercial work also included printing and advertising, and his paintings included landscapes. Alongside his trusteeship, he supported the Carpenter Museum. His recorded burial association is Village Cemetery in Rehoboth.