Former senator was ‘larger than life’

Deepa Bharath

Dennis Carpenter was everybody’s friend.

The former state senator and Corona del Mar resident hobnobbed

with top officials with the same ease and genuine warmth as he

interacted with elevator operators and chauffeurs.

“He had no enemies,” his son Frank Carpenter said. “He had no

airs.”

Dennis Carpenter died on his Oklahoma ranch on Dec. 23 of a brain

aneurysm. He was 75.

Dennis Carpenter touched many lives and launched several political

careers, his son said.

“He was 6-foot-2, large, with a pink face,” Frank Carpenter said.

“He was gregarious. He was larger than life.”

He moved to Newport in 1958 and practiced law after a four-year

stint at the FBI.

Carpenter represented Orange County in the state Senate from 1970

to 1978. He served as Senate minority leader for the Republican

Party. He was instrumental in getting Ronald Reagan elected as

California’s governor in 1966 and a principal player in the election

of Richard Nixon and the nomination of Gerald Ford for president.

He was a man who stood by his principles.

“He never took a pension because he believed public service should

be just that,” Frank Carpenter said. “He truly believed in serving

the people.”

Carpenter enjoyed his time in Newport Beach, his son said. He was

a partner in the Koll Co. and a member of the Balboa Bay Club. He

loved to race boats out of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club.

He was also a good friend of Newport Beach’s own icon, John Wayne.

“They would play cards all the time,” Frank Carpenter said. “My

father would take John Wayne’s boat down to Mexico and load it with

supplies. They didn’t agree in politics, but my dad was a big fan.”

Dennis Carpenter is survived by his sons Kenneth, Bruce, Frank and

Scott, and 11 grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Mariners

Church in Irvine to be followed by a reception at the Balboa Bay

Club. Services were held in Oklahoma on Dec. 29.