Orthopedic Surgeon Glenn Blish Carpenter Dies at 96
Dr. Glenn Blish Carpenter / Courtesy of Detroit Free Press A member of the Greatest Generation, Dr. Glenn Blish Carpenter, well-loved orthopedic surgeon, who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II and spent more than 40 years in the Beaumont Hospital system, passed away on Thursday, May 26, 2022, from complications of prostate cancer. He was 96.
Dr. Carpenter was born in 1926 in Detroit, Michigan to Glenn B. and Grace Carpenter. He grew up on the famous Seven Mile Road and attended Hampton and Cranbrook Schools.
It was in Michigan that he met his wife, Joan Ely. They were married for almost 70 years.
Carpenter raised his family in Birmingham and there he built a life that was constantly filled with friends.
Dr. Carpenter earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1953 and began his orthopedic training at the University of Michigan. He entered orthopedic practice just before the beginnings of arthroplasty surgery and the explosion of learning and innovation that, today, we take largely for granted.
Dr. Carpenter began his practice in Birmingham, Michigan, on the staff at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan where he would stay for more than 40 years. Eventually, Dr. Carpenter’s sterling reputation as a physician led to his election as president of the Oakland County Medical Society.
He served his country during World War II in Japan and then came home to finish his undergraduate studies and follow his father into medicine.
He was known for throwing fun parties where everyone would play games, some of them he invented himself. Besides playing games, he also enjoyed puzzles, golf, musicals, and jazz. He also loved spending time at his cottage on Lake Michigan with his family.
He especially enjoyed the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Symphony, and Cranbrook Schools. Both the arts and sciences were important to him. He lived his whole life in the Detroit area.
Carpenter is survived by his wife Joan, daughter Sally Kerr and son-in-law Hugh, sons Jim who is married to Jenny and Wiltse who is married to Carrie as well as seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
