Jo Ann (Felps) Carpenter , 82, passed away Tuesday, April 3, 2018 in Houston, TX.  She was born in Johnson City, TX on August 19, 1935, to Robert Benjamin Felps and Anna Lou Felps (Pellar).

Jo Ann was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Donald Wilson Carpenter; her son, Travis Carpenter; and her brother, R.B. Felps.

She is survived by her daughter, Donna Carpenter, and husband, Okechukwu Nwanyanwu; son, Robert Carpenter; brother, Thomas Felps and wife, Donna.  She is also survived by two grandchildren, Sarah and Ben Carpenter-Nwanyanwu, as well as many other loving relatives and dear friends.

Jo Ann grew up on Miller Creek, where she learned to swim when her father unceremoniously threw her into the water at age five.  She came up gurgling and scared, but managed to get herself back to land, and subsequently became an accomplished swimmer, water-skier, sailor and fisherwoman.

This was her legacy: she knew many fears, losses and challenges, but she quietly put them to one side so that she could embrace new possibilities.  Like her mother, Anna Lou, she was a quiet adventurer.  She travelled widely with her husband, Don, spending many summers in Port Aransas deep-sea fishing, riding annually in the Houston Trail Ride, and exploring the U.S. and Mexico by land and sea. Two of her most memorable trips were to see her daughter and family in Malawi and later in Mozambique and South Africa.  While in Kenya she, her mother, mother-in-law and husband hot-air ballooned over the Serengeti.  In South Africa, she and her mother and the grandkids saw a mother and baby whale frolicking in the water off the coast of Cape Town.  Those times with her two grandkids were precious to her and both were privileged to have spent many good times with her over the years.

In addition to having an adventurous side, Jo Ann had an introspective side, with a strong sense of justice and integrity.  She spoke up for what she thought was right, from fighting to get two little African-American girls into her Camp Fire Girls troop in the early 1960s to celebrating her daughter's marriage to an African.  Despite her own sense of right and wrong, she was tolerant and respectful of differences of opinion, she never gossiped, and, as one relative put it, "She always thought before she spoke."  Many confided in her and relied on her calm and wisdom in times of trouble.

She will be sorely missed.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at Crofts – Crow Funeral Home in Johnson City.  Interment will follow in Miller Creek Cemetery.