Francis Patrick Frank Carpenito

Francis P. (Frank) Carpenito was born Dec. 9, 1922, and died May 10, 2013 at the VA Medical Center in Prescott, Ariz. He is survived by his wife Katherine (Kay) of 30 years; five children, Frank Capenito Jr. (Karen), Catherine Sousa (Emanuel), Michele Drapeau (Doug), George Riccio (Karin), and Daniel Riccio (Katherine); his nine grandchildren Victoria Carpenito, Chelsea Carpenito, Daniel Sousa, Susanna Riccio, Joseph Riccio, Jacqueline Drapeau, Dominic Drapeau and Danika Riccio. He is also survived by his brother Joseph Carpenito (Elaine) and many nieces and nephews. Frank was a Navy Veteran who was assigned to the First Marine Division. He fought on Pelilu, Guadalcanal and Okinawa. He earned a Purple Heart medal on Okinawa when a bomb landed on the edge of his foxhole. The blast blew him into the air and resulted in 11 pieces of shrapnel being imbedded in his back and thigh. Frank had many jobs with his Seabee unit. One of them was to be part of an underwater demolition unit that blew up obstacles that were preventing boats from landing safely. Frank was the commander of the Disabled American Veterans Chapter #16 in Prescott for several years and was instrumental in establishing the DAV 'Thrift' Store. He is a life member of the Disabled American Veterans, The Military Order of the Purple Heart, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was also a Lion for many years. Frank bas been an active member of St. Catherine Laboure Catholic Church since 1984, and served as a collection counter and usher. Frank was a dedicated volunteer at the Bob Stump Medical Center since 1988 and earned more than 12,500 hours of volunteer time. Frank was a very fun loving man who handed dollar bills to every child he saw, relished his mother's meatballs and sauce, and told stories of his life experiences to anyone who would listen. He retired as a letter carrier for the USPS, assigned in Massachusetts. He loved his job and became such good friends with the people on his route that they would even shovel snow to make special parking spaces for him.