Robert C. Carpenter

" Sen. Robert Carpenter"

Robert C. Carpenter (born 18 June 1924) is a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's fiftieth Senate district, including constituents in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain and Transylvania counties. A retired bank executive from Franklin, North Carolina, Carpenter is currently (2003-2004 session) serving in his eighth term in the state Senate. Carpenter was defeated by fewer than three-hundred votes in 2004 by long-time District Court Judge John Snow (D) in the newly drawn fiftieth district, consisting of Cherokee, Clay, Graham, part of Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties. Carpenter is the father-in-law of former NC Rep. Marge Carpenter (R).

Carpenter was born in Franklin, North Carolina and graduated from Franklin High School in 1942. He briefly attended Western Carolina University before undergoing flight training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and flying with the United States Navy during World War II (from 1943 to 1945). After the war, he graduated from the University of Virginia School of Consumer Banking and served as a bank executive in Franklin until his retirement. Carpenter was first elected to the North Carolina Senate in 1988. Carpenter has been a member of the Franklin Rotary Club for 50 years. He has been married twice: his first wife, Ruth, is deceased; Carpenter married T. Helen Edwards Bryant on 18 January 1986. He has eight children.