Carvel Despain: A life marked by quiet service

It is with great personal joy to acknowledge the many contributions of a mentor of mine, Carvel Despain. He is a quiet servant in our community who has often worked in the background to make a difference. Never seeking the spotlight, his life has been woven into Lovell for decades through teaching, mentoring and countless acts of quiet service.

Born and raised in Lovell as the second child of Gordon and Lillian Despain, Carvel learned early the value of hard work, family, faith and community. He carried those lessons into his marriage to Patricia “Patty” Gerrard in 1965. Together, they built a home known for kindness, a love of learning and a fun sense of humor. For me personally, I’m grateful they passed those same gifts on to their oldest daughter ,Sally, who has been my best friend for the past 39 years.

Between 1962 and 1964, Carvel served a mission in the New Zealand North Mission, based in Auckland. His time among the Māori people left a lasting impression. 

“Serving a mission helped me overcome my bashfulness,” he said. “It taught me that I could do hard things, survive and still be kind.”

That experience also redirected his career. 

“On my mission, I discovered I could talk to children more easily than to adults,” he recalled. “That’s when I decided to change from studying agriculture to elementary education.”

It was a choice that shaped the lives of hundreds of students in Lovell and beyond.

Carvel found his calling in the classroom, especially in fifth-grade science. Students remember his patience, humor and curiosity, and how he brought lessons to life with hands-on projects. 

“I never wanted to just hand kids a project,” he explained. “I wanted them to design, build and discover. Whether it was rockets or hatching eggs, science should be hands-on and exciting.”

His introduction of model rocketry in Lovell’s fifth-grade classrooms became a tradition that continues to this day. He also helped launch the same program at Rocky Mountain Elementary, where his grandchildren attended. Carvel filled his classrooms with life: hatching chicks, growing plants, even letting a hen raise her brood in the school courtyard.

 “The principal was skeptical at first,” he laughed, “but when he saw how excited the kids were, he said, ‘Let’s do it again next year.’”

Carvel’s leadership extended beyond the classroom through decades of service in the Boy Scouts.

“I got my Eagle rank in 1957, and that same year I went to the National Jamboree at Valley Forge,” he said. “For a shy boy from Lovell, that was one of the highlights of my youth.” 

As an adult, he continued as a Scout leader, committee member and for more than a decade as chairman of Eagle Scout Boards of Review. A few years ago he was given one of the greatest awards in the Boy Scouts who honored him with the Silver Beaver Award. 

“My first adult responsibility in Scouting came as a freshman at the University of Wyoming,” he recalled. “They asked me to be the 11-year-old Scout leader in Laramie. That experience stuck with me the rest of my life.”

Together, Carvel and Patty raised five children, Sally, Tricia, Johnathan, Richard and Jacob, whose lives, along with those of 19 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, carry forward their values of faith, work and service. 

“The secret to raising good kids?” he said with a smile. “We got them all involved in 4-H. They learned responsibility caring for lambs, calves and chickens. I wasn’t really raising farm animals, I was raising my children.”

In 1979, Carvel was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a condition his mother had also endured. He faces it with determination and quiet grace.

“I told myself, I’m not going to make this a problem for my family. I’ll concentrate on what I can do, not what I can’t do,” he said.

Within a few years he required a wheelchair, yet his resilience never faltered. Patty, his wife of 60 years, adds, “In all the years I’ve lived with him, he doesn’t complain. He just goes on.”

His example came in part from his mother, who carried on despite her illness.

“There were many things she couldn’t do, so I had to step up,” Carvel remembered. “So when MS came into my life, I already knew some of the challenges I might face.”

In retirement, Carvel has continued to give back.

“My best advice for retirement,” he said, “is to keep busy doing something productive, something you enjoy that also benefits someone else.”

For him, that has meant working in his yard, serving in church and Scouting and devoting many hours to family history.

“I got involved with the Family History Center here in Lovell, and I’ve loved helping people discover their ancestors,” he said.

Carvel’s name may not be the first mentioned when people talk about our community, but his fingerprints are everywhere: in students he taught, families he helped, congregations he strengthened and a family shaped by his example. His story reminds us that the greatest difference is often made not through grand gestures but through daily faithfulness and steady service.

That quiet consistency, mixed with humor and kindness, is perhaps his most enduring legacy.