Martha-Carol Carpenter Obituary

Martha-Carol Whitehead Carpenter, age 56, of Collierville, TN passed away at her home under Baptist Trinity Hospice Care on April 5, 2024. She was born on February 7, 1968 at The Northeast Mississippi Hospital, Booneville, MS; the daughter of Bonnie Ray Whitehead and Doris Brooks Oswalt.
Martha-Carol was married to Randy Carpenter May 8, 1987 in Booneville, MS. They had two children, Kelsey and Brayden, who were her pride and joy and she was very proud of them both. After she and Randy married, she continued her education at the University of Mississippi in Oxford where she received her Bachelor's degree in Education. She later pursued and received her Masters in Education.
Her teaching career spanned 33 years in Shelby County, TN beginning with her first school at Cromwell Elementary, then Crump Elementary, Southwind Elementary, and finally Crosswind Elementary in Collierville, TN where she spent over 20 years.
Martha-Carol lived her life to the fullest every single day. She was a Christian, loved the Lord fiercely and was an inspiration to everyone who met her with her strength and faith. She loved her friends and family deeply. She had a passion for teaching and her students. She enjoyed attending concerts and dancing. She could often be found enjoying the sunshine at the beach, boating at the lake, or reading by the pool.
Martha-Carol is survived by her husband, Randy Carpenter, daughter Kelsey Winchell (Justin) and their children, Brooks and Beckham, son Brayden Carpenter (Morgan), mother Doris Oswalt, step-father Earl Oswalt, brothers Vincent (Tosca) and Christopher (Elizabeth) Oswalt, sister in laws Rita Walden (Billy), Kathy McCombs (Julia), and Judy King, maternal uncle Kenneth Brooks, and many nieces, nephews and friends.
She was preceded in death by her father Bonnie Ray Whitehead, grandparents Joseph Hugh and Myrtle Darwin Whitehead, Aulton and Evangeline Burress Brooks, father and mother-in-law Carmon and Emogene Phillips Carpenter, brothers in law Glenn King and Steve McCombs, paternal uncle Tom Whitehead and aunt Kate Wallis Whitehead and their children Joe Harve and Elizabeth Whitehead, and maternal aunt Joann Coffman Brooks.
A Celebration of Life is planned for a later date and is to be announced.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests any memorials be made in support of pancreatic cancer research; Pancan.org or locally kostenfoundation.com, St. Jude or charities of persons choice.