James R. “Rick” Carpenter Jr., a former athletic director at McDaniel College whose coaching and teaching career spanned 50 years, died Jan. 3 at The Terraces at Westminster Senior Living. He was 78 and lived in Westminster.
No cause of death was available, according to family members.
“He firmly believed in the student-athlete philosophy, where the role of the students comes first,” Flavius R.W. Lilly, McDaniel provost, said in a statement announcing Mr. Carpenter’s death.
“More than winning, he wanted to see his students cross the stage at commencement. He was known to make sports practices fun for students, going beyond training just to compete,” Mr. Lilly said. “He took each team to heart and watched them play like a true fan, sharing in their triumphs and losses.”
“He was my coach in 1976 when I came to what was then Western Maryland College,” said Doug Renner, head track and field coach at what is now McDaniel College, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1985.
“He was a very wise man who always gave sage advice and his office door was always open. He was hands-on and loved teaching,” Mr. Renner said. “We coached together and he became a great friend.”
James Richard Carpenter Jr., son of James R. Carpenter, former mayor of Buckhannon, West Virginia, and Kathryn Carpenter, an administrative assistant at West Virginia Wesleyan College, was born in Philippi, West Virginia, and was raised there and in Silver Spring, where he graduated from Northwood High School and was an outstanding athlete.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1967 in physical education and history at West Virginia Wesleyan College where he had been an All-American baseball player and all-league football player.
He obtained a master’s degree in education in 1972 from McDaniel and his doctorate in sports psychology in 1979 from West Virginia University.
He began his career at what was then Western Maryland College in 1969, and in addition to teaching, he subsequently was swimming coach for seven years, football for nine and track and field for 19 and had doubled as cross-country coach for six seasons.
Mr. Carpenter was athletic director from 1984 to 1999, and during his tenure, oversaw the transition of McDaniel from the Middle Atlantic Conference to the Centennial Conference in 1992.
“He ushered in the era of women’s track and field and cross-country prior to women having their own teams at McDaniel,” Mr. Renner said.
After stepping down as AD, he coordinated the college’s graduate kinesiology program for four years and continued to teach kinesiology until his retirement in 2019.
Mr. Carpenter was inducted into the Green Terror Athletics Hall of Fame at McDaniel in 2017.
He enjoyed hunting and fishing.
His wife of 50 years, the former Alice Stokes, who was a former librarian at Mount de Sales Academy, died in 2000.
A gathering will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 25 at Pritts Funeral Home & Chapel, 412 Washington Road, Westminster, with a private memorial service to follow.
Mr. Carpenter is survived by two sons, David Carpenter of Westminster and Scott Carpenter of Herndon, Virginia; a daughter, Elizabeth Carpenter-Song of Canaan, New Hampshire; a sister, Pam Gillespie of Buckhannon, West Virginia; and six grandchildren.
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