Obituary of Rita G. (Gainley) Carpenter

Rita G. (Gainley) Carpenter, of South Peabody, died August 31,2006 in Raseda, California after a short illness. She was the wife of the late Robert J. “Bob” Carpenter who died last February. She was born in Lynn on August 13, 1927, and moved to Peabody where she graduated from Peabody High School and has resided here most of her life. She was first employed as a secretary at the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in Lynn where she met her husband. She was later employed at the J.B. Thomas Hospital in Peabody for 15 years and then became the executive secretary at the District Attorney of Essex County office in Salem from 1971 until her retirement in 1991. She had been active in the political circles in Peabody and the No Shore and was a democratic delegate to Washington, D.C. in the Presidential Elections and Inaugurals in 1967 and in 1971. She was also a devoted mother to her two sons helping them in Boy Scouts, and Sports programs. She is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, John P. and Denise Carpenter of Peabody and Robert J. and Cathy Carpenter of California, two grandchildren, Tracy Carpenter of California and Stefan Carpenter of Peabody, a sister and brother-in-law, Olive and Kenneth Burkinshaw, and a sister-in-law, Judith Gainley all of Peabody and many nieces and nephews. She was the sister of the late Frank Gainley. Her Funeral will be held on Friday from the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home at the 82 Lynn St., Peabody facility followed by a Funeral Mass in St. Ann’s Church, Peabody at 11:00 AM. Burial in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Peabody. A Visitation will be held on Friday from 9:30 to 10:30 AM prior to the Mass. Memorial contributions may be made in her memory to the Fisher House Foundation Inc., 1401 Rockville Pike, Suite 600, Rockville, MD 20852