Carpenter

ELKHART, INDIANA, U.S. — Rodney W. Carpenter, founder, owner and operator of Clear Creek & Associates, Inc., and a longtime engineer in the grain industry, died on Nov. 19 after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 65 years old.

Born in 1951 in Shelbyville, Kentucky, U.S., Carpenter attended the University of Kentucky, where he graduated with a bachelor’s of science degree in agricultural engineering.

He began his career in 1976 as a design engineer at Clayton & Lambert, where he developed a new automated grain dryer and developed design standards for grain loads. He joined Brock Manufacturing in 1979, spending the next 21 years working for Brock and its affiliated companies in engineering, sales and product development roles. While at CTB International he set up product training and education, and traveled internationally. He later helped integrate three new product lines, belt conveyor, spreaders and grain bins at Brock Grain and Feed Systems in the late 1990s.

In 2001, Carpenter founded Clear Creek & Associates, Inc. in Goshen, Indiana, U.S. As president of the company he was responsible for many engineering projects, including grain bin foundations, steel structures, foundations, warehouses and processes. He also led modifications of mills and provided product reviews and field evaluations. In 2014 he was named senior partner at Clear Creek & Associates, with responsibility for overseeing financials, evaluating areas of growth and reviewing projects.

He was a member of the American Society of Agriculture Engineers, the American Institute of Steel Construction, the National Society of Professional Engineers and the National Frame Building Association.

Survivors include his wife, Deborah; a son, Austin (Jennifer); a daughter, Ashley (Ryan) Mault; four grandchildren; two brothers and two sisters.