GARDENER, BUILDER, 91, DIES TUESDAY

JACKSON, Mo. -- Carl L. Penzel, 91, a "soft-spoken man with an easy nature, a dynamic drive and an endless curiosity" died Tuesday, July 4, 2000, at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Penzel was always "intrigued with the challenge of finding something more," said Elane Ertman, in a 1988 article published in the Southeast Missourian.

Ertman served as secretary of the Jackson Heritage Society. She was only one of many people who presented Carl Penzel with awards and certificates for his beautiful gardens, construction projects and civic accomplishments over the years.

Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Thursday at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the chapel, with the Rev. Sam Roethemeyer officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Penzel is known best for his avid gardening skills and his work on major construction projects in the region.

His garden, located on two acres of the family's farmland between Millersville and Oak Ridge, started as an anniversary gift for his wife, Mettie. Carl Penzel bought three azalea plants as a wedding anniversary gift, planted them and they died. He wanted to know why and wrote for information about which varieties of azaleas would grow best in Missouri.

That seed of interest grew into a garden that earned him a horticultural award from a regional chapter of the Men's Garden Clubs of America. The garden, Pinecrest, was named a bird sanctuary by the Jackson Garden Club. It was also named the largest in the Midwest by the Indiana Chapter of the American Rhodendron Society.

But gardening wasn't all that Carl Penzel did. With more than 50 years of experience in the business, Penzel was known for his construction work in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. He retired in 1981. His father began the business as Linus Penzel Construction Co., and Carl Penzel joined the firm in 1930 as a superintendent.

Over the years, Penzel Construction Co. helped to build much of the interstate and highways that traverse the region. The company built the Florsheim Shoe Co. plant on Southern Expressway, an addition at Southeast Missouri Hospital, made major improvements to William Street in Cape Girardeau and built bridges in counties all over the state, and constructed the Jackson Chamber of Commerce building.

In 1958, Penzel designed an electric heating system similar to an electric blanket for curing concrete bridge floors in winter. The process was written about in several trade magazines and even considered by the English government for use in a bridge project there.

Penzel also designed a process of precasting exposed aggregate panels for use in construction of the KFVS building.

But he didn't just stop with gardening and construction work. Penzel also was interested in recordings and built and operated the sound system at Emanuel United Church of Christ in Jackson. He also built sound systems for the Central elementary school auditorium and the Jackson band shelter and high school stadium.

Penzel was also an active member of the community. He was a member of Emanuel United Church of Christ, a past member of the Jackson school board, served on the first park board for the city, the Jackson Library Board and was a member of the Cape County Park and Recreation Commission, the board of directors for Southeast Missouri Hospital and the Missouri State Chamber of Commerce. He also was a 32nd degree Mason, Scottish Rite.

Penzel was a graduate of Washington University, Central Wesleyan College, the RCA Institute and Southeast Missouri State University.

Survivors include his wife, Mettie; a son, Carl Gene Penzel of Jackson; and daughter, Carole Jane Penzel Hebenstreit of St. Louis.