Carl W. Pettit was born May 28, 1946, in a small manufacturing and coal town in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. His father Carl, fresh back from World War II, and his mother Alice strived to build a simple, happy life for their first son. They would later welcome two more sons, Glen and Paul, to their family.
Early on, he spent a great deal of time on his grandfather’s farm, learning how to tend the dairy cows. He also helped his father, who taught him how to grow vegetables. From an early age, he dreamed of one day having a farm of his own. He helped his father build their home, learning more than how to build, but an incredible work ethic he would carry with him for the rest of his life.
In 1968, he married the love of his life, Brenda Sue Kolasci. He was completing his degree in biology at West Liberty State College when he was drafted. He chose to follow in his father’s footsteps and joined the army medical specialist program. While completing his training, they welcomed their first daughter, Kerri Pettit. They were expecting their son, Eric Pettit, when he was shipped off to Vietnam.
Upon his return to Moundsville, he began a career as a firefighter paramedic for the city, eventually leaving the fire department at the rank of captain. At the same time, he trained to become a respiratory therapist, a career that he would retire from in his 60s. During those years, they welcomed their third child, Lacy Pettit.
He spent his spare time building, reading, and tracing his family roots, collecting the stories along the way. He was always there for his nieces and nephews, Dana, Melissa, Dan, Daniel and Lizzie. Their names belong to the family stories he carried with him, because family was never just a word to him. It was something you showed up for. His pride and joy was his grandson, Cody Pettit. They spent time building things and tinkering with cars, culminating in the two building a tiny house for Cody to start his adult life. Sadly, he lost Cody in a car accident just shy of his 20th birthday.
Five years later, he lost his long ailing wife of more than 55 years. He cared for her daily, showing that he epitomized the vow of in sickness and in health to his very soul. He spent his final years building his chicken coop and tending his chickens, while making plans to return to the place where he grew up, the place he considered home.
On Sept. 7, 2026, he passed peacefully in his home in Dayton, Texas, surrounded by Kerri and her wife, Brynne Soukup, Lacy and her partner, Toll Dunaway, and his adopted daughters, Jennifer Sorrell and Doralyn Davenport. Anyone who knew him described him as kind, the salt of the earth. He was gentle and quiet, always considering others, and he was someone people could lean on. And perhaps that is what remains most clearly when we look back at his life: a man who worked with his hands, served others, loved his family, remembered where he came from, and kept building until the very end. His name was Carl W. Pettit. And he was, and always will be, our Dad.
To send flowers to the family of Carl, please visit our floral store.