CARPENTER, Ramona F. (Bland) - b. February 28, 1931 - d. May 7, 2025

[patyrn]

Ramona F. Carpenter departed this life on May 7, 2025 in Eureka, Kansas.  She was born February 28, 1931 at home in Piedmont, Kansas to H.C. and Sophia (Boswell) Bland.

Ramona attended Piedmont schools and graduated from Piedmont Rural High School in 1947.  She attended college at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia, Kansas, graduating in 1951 with a Bachelor's degree in physical education.  She taught in Cedar Point, Cottonwood Falls, Augusta, and Topeka and enjoyed the time with her students. 

Ramona married Gus Carpenter, Jr. in 1955.  They did not have children but entertained their nieces and nephews whenever opportunities arose. For several years they attended graduate school in Fort Collins, Colorado during the summers and taught public school in Kansas during the school year.  One year they traveled to Alaska in a camper and had a great adventure, spending the whole summer on the road.  While living in Topeka, they built their home in Piedmont on weekends where Ramona lived for the past 45 years.  Gus went to work at Boeing in Wichita when the house was habitable, and they left Topeka for Piedmont.  Ramona and Gus divorced in 1998.

Ramona worked in the Greenwood County Attorney's office and for the Rural Water District in the Otter Creek Township.  She served as a board member and treasurer for the Otter Creek Township, was a board member for the Watershed District, and was instrumental in raising funds for the Beaumont Community Building and starting the Beaumont Pasture Golf Tournament. She also served on the Greenwood County Farm Bureau Board and attended the Women's Educational Club and embroidered many squares for the Community Benefit quilts raffled off every year at the ice cream social.  She must have made 100 gallons of ice cream for the social over the years.  Ramona allowed her land to be used for the Governor's One Shot Turkey Shoot.  She was a good shot and was never afraid to burst out of the house with a shotgun to kill an armadillo or coyote when required.  She was a judge at the Kansas State Fair for many years.  She also volunteered at the Greenwood County Fair and received the Friend of the Fair Award.

Ramona attended the Methodist Church in Piedmont and was always willing to bring a delicious covered dish to the potluck or soup to a soup supper and worked the Fall Festival for the Piedmont and Beaumont Methodist churches.  Ramona loved animals and fed every cat that showed up at her door.  Those cats are still being fed today.  She usually had a dog or two as well.  She had a large garden for many years and canned or froze everything she could.  She made bread weekly for years and could make a tasty dish or dessert with ease.

Ramona is survived by her nephew, Mark Bland and nieces, Frances B. Furry, "Carolyn B. Willams, and Marian B. Overstreet and additional Carpenter nephews and nieces; close friend and caretaker, Arlene Edwards; and many cousins and friends.  She was preceded in death by her parents, her only sibling, Robert and wife, Leota "Penny"; ex-husband, Gus Carpenter; and his nephews, Galen Carpenter, Ken Pierce, and Greg Allen.

Cremation has been effected.  Ramona will be inurned in the Piedmont Cemetery in Piedmont, Kansas near her parents and other family members.  A memorial service will be held at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Greenwood County 4-H Foundation or to the Beaumont Community Association.  Contributions may be sent in care of Koup Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 595, Eureka, Kansas 67045 which is overseeing arrangements.  Condolences may be left for the family online at www.koupfunerals.com

(taken from the Koup Family Funeral Home website)