Paul David Carpenter passed away peacefully at home and surrounded by family on August 16, 2026. Paul was born in Hyattsville, MD in 1941 to father Maurice and mother Mary, and elder sister Joanne, and the family evolved to include stepmother Norma and siblings Jarrott, Jennie and Linda. He grew up in a family shaped by the depression, learning to value ideals such as self-sufficiency, hard work, and integrity which would come to define his life for the next 85 years. As a child he loved Scouting and spent his summers “roughing it” at Scout camps, including a brave journey to New Mexico as a young teenager. Thus began his lifelong passion for nature and history.

Paul met his beautiful wife-to-be Judith (Judy) at a blind date mixer in 1958 when she was just 16 years old. They married in 1965, settling down first in New York City and later in the Hudson Valley before moving south to suburban Maryland, and later to South Carolina for retirement. In marrying into Judy’s Italian family, Paul gained not only a life partner but a larger, louder, and wonderfully chaotic extended family. Sixty-one years of marriage brought Paul and Judy three children: Paul Jr. (wife Lisa), Nicole, and Matthew (wife Laura). And through them came seven grandchildren who gave him his beloved title of PapPap: Travis, Zachary, Jackson, Olivia, Abigail, Caleb and Caroline.

Paul was a graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy and the University of Maryland, and he spent his career in business administration and defense contracting. But work never defined his life, and much of the joy in his life came from travel, food and above all, family. He and Judy spent their retirement years traveling throughout Europe, finding particular affection for Florence, Italy where they would return repeatedly to enjoy the people, the culture and the food. He truly loved the Italian people for their sense of culture and community. He would regale the family with stories of Florentine history and culture, often with a few embellishments along the way (the man knew how to tell a good story!). He would share a limoncello with anyone, and often did. Strangers became friends that way.

Paul also cherished sharing good food with friends and family. He treasured any good meal, whether it was a fancy steak or simple grilled chicken (“should I start the grill yet” was one of his classic catch phrases). During many special dinners, his booming voice and witty sense of humor lifted any room, and he was never without a joke or pun.

But his most enduring love was his family. At home, every decision he made was guided by his unwavering commitment to his wife, his three kids, and his seven grandkids. He moved his children to rural Hudson Valley when they were young so they could enjoy a childhood exploring nature. He built each child their own treehouse, planned backyard camping trips, and enjoyed making Saturday morning pancakes with “help” from his three kids – his attempt to let mom sleep in.

In an echo of these early years, for the past 15 years, the entire Carpenter clan gathered at Holden Beach, North Carolina for an annual “Beach Week.” Surrounded by family, food and nostalgia, he often said that beach week was his favorite week of the year, even better than Christmas. He was never happier than sitting at the dinner table with his growing family, playing chess with his grandkids, sitting on the deck overlooking the ocean, lazing in the pool staring at the sky above, or taking his entire family for ice cream. His grandchildren always looked forward to his enormous stacks of pancakes during beach week; each year he made more and more (almost 200 at last count!) using his special secret recipe. Returning to the same beach house year after year, the kids renamed it PHOP: PapPap’s House of Pancakes. And Paul loved it all, every moment.

You’re a hard act to follow Paul, Dad, PapPap. You leave behind a legacy of integrity, commitment, fortitude, honor and love. More importantly, you leave those qualities in your children and grandchildren who learned from you and will carry them forward.