William Franklin Carver III

William Franklin Carver, III, PhD (known by family and friends as Bill or Grandpa Bill), of Maplewood, Missouri, passed away on Sunday, July 31, 2022. Surrounded by family 24/7 since February 2022, Bill passed quickly, without pain or suffering. He was 96 years old, born on September 13, 1925, in Denver, Colorado to William F. Carver Jr., M.D. and Martha Johnson Carver (both deceased). Bill’s family moved to California when he was about two years old and he grew up in Hollywood during its Golden Era. He attended Black Fox Military School, graduating in 1943. That summer he entered the V-12 Naval Officer College Program, at the University of Montana at Helena, MT. However, due to illness he was unable to complete the program. Due to his highly regarded Military School experience and having attended Radar School, CIC School, and Anti-Jamming School, he was able to skip Basic Training, and in November, went for Naval Training at the Farragut Navel Training Station on Lake Pend Oreille, in Northern Idaho. His memories of Lake Pend Orielle consisted only of how wet, cold, and miserable that training was. As life would have it, in 2014 circumstances brought him to the shores of Lake Pend Orielle once again. He was able to find the beauty and peace that area of our country brought in today’s world, and there on the beach around a campfire with friends and family, finally began to open up about his WWII experiences that he held so close for 70 years. After completing his training at Farragut, on April 21, 1944, he was received on board The USS Cape Esperance, an Escort Carrier supplying planes to the Aircraft Carriers in the South Pacific. In December 1944, The Cape Esperance and its crew survived the harrowing experience of “Halsey’s Typhoon” (Typhoon Cobra) that struck the US Pacific fleet. It swept dozens of planes off the decks of ships, including the Cape Esperance, sinking nine other war ships, and killing 790 sailors. His expertise and talent reading Radar kept him on extended duty due to his ability to discern the readings of large waves, vs. what others thought were enemy ships. He was later transferred to Sub-Chaser SC-734. In 1948, after the war, he married Janet Willis of Hollywood, CA. Bill continued his education at the University of Southern California, earning his Bachelors, Masters, and PhD. As part of his graduate work, in the summer of 1953, Bill spent the summer at Northwestern University, in Chicago, IL, studying Audiology under the father of Audiology, Dr. Raymond Carhart. He returned to USC to complete his PhD in Speech Pathology. Earning a PhD in Audiology was not yet an option in those days. We’ve been told the copy on file at USC of his dissertation, “An Experimental Study of the Effects of Inter Aural Temporal Delays and Intensity Differences on Intracranial Localization of Spondee Words”, is practically worn out because it has been referenced so many times over the years. During this period, Bill and Janet had four children, losing their first child, Catherine Anne Carver, to a tragic accident in 1953. In 1959, Bill and family moved to Chicago, IL, to work for Beltone, a hearing aid manufacturer, the first Audiologist to be hired by any hearing aid manufacturer. In 1965, Bill left Beltone, as he was awarded a Post Doctorate Fellowship in Audiology, from Northwestern University. This eventually led the family to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1968, where he became the Head of the Department of Audiology, at the Washington University Medical School. In 1972, Bill came up with the idea to develop and record Hearing Tests to sell. He partnered with a friend who had a home studio. Working nights and weekends the business took off and Auditec of St. Louis was born. A couple of years later, Bill eventually bought his friend out, and pursued growing the business full time, creating, and promoting new types of hearing tests used in many vertical markets to this day. Bill retired in 2015, selling the business at the age of 90. He took his last annual two-week road trip that next summer, each year finding his way to the Pacific Ocean and back. He always stopped along the way to spend time with his out-of-area grandchildren, family, and friends. His grandchildren looked forward to his visits every summer, where, even into his 80’s he was climbing the highest water slides at Water Parks, ever the kid at heart. Bill loved life to the very end, even in the last weeks of his life, when the home healthcare nurses would come in, and ask how he was doing, he would frequently say, “Great! I am so happy to be in good health!”. Bill is survived by his ex-wife Janet W. Carver, of Webster Groves, Missouri, who remained friends, and who helped immensely with his home care over the past two years, his two sons, James William and wife Vicki Carver of Manchester, MO, Thomas Alan Carver of St. Louis, MO., and his daughter, Anne-Marie (Carver) Yates of Hillsboro, OR., his grandchildren, Kelly J. Parsons of Boulder, CO, Lindsay M. Yates of Houston, TX, and Christopher R. and wife Savannah M. Yates of Hillsboro, OR, his Great-Grandsons, Carter, Xander, and Finner Yates of Hillsboro, OR, and Logan and Greyson Clarke of Houston, TX, his step grandchildren Maria and husband Daniel Stull of Lake St. Louis, MO, and Heather and husband Justin Rosen of Manchester, MO, his Step-Great Grandchildren, Isa and Josie Oliver, Kingston and Mateo Stull all of Lake St. Louis, MO, and Bryce Rosen of Manchester, MO. Part of Bill’s ashes will be interred at Jefferson Barracks National Military Cemetery, with a Military Honors ceremony to be held there on Friday, August 12, 2022, at 9:00 am. Arrival before 8:45, meeting on the upper parking lot on Sheridan Rd directly across from the cemetery after turning off Telegraph Rd is required if making plans to attend. The remainder of his ashes will be spread in his beloved Pacific Ocean. In lieu of Flowers, we ask that donations please be sent to The Central Institute for the Deaf in Memory of Dr. William F. Carver, III. https://cid.edu/support-cid/donate/

William Franklin Carver III

September 13, 1925 - July 31, 2022