Carl A. Kyzer

Carl Alexander Kyzer of Nieceville, FL passed away in his sleep at home in Niceville FL on December 11, 2014.

Carl was born March 25, 1918 in West End, Newberry, South Carolina. His father, Arthur Robert, worked in the cotton mill and had some farm land. From 1931, Carl worked in the mill, with a family chore to make the farm viable.

In 1940, Carl tried to join the Army (ahead of the new draft). However, family priorities required Carl work at the cotton mill. Looking for a better way to make a living in 1941, Carl and a buddy drove in their '36 Chevy to the Charleston Naval Shipyard and signed up as civil service welders. Carl learned to build ships quickly and transferred to Hawaii in July 1942 to rebuild the war damage.

At Pearl Harbor, the welders' task was bringing attacked ships back to service. Carl told many stories of how the welding shop rebuilt torpedoed, bombed, and strafed ships. He spent his spare time with his motor pool friends building and racing hot rods—his lifelong avocation. In 1945, he met Shyrine Acta Ames through a mutual friend, Velma Verdier French. He devoted his life to Acta for 27 years.

In 1946, Carl would finally enlist in the Army. They posted him to Schofield Barracks in the Ordnance Motor Pool School. In April 1947, just after their daughter, Nan Ames, was born, the Red Cross notified him that his Mom, Bessie Lee, was ill. Carl returned to Newberry in time to tell her good-bye. Back in Hawaii, the Army posted him to Guam to rebuild that motor pool from war damage.

With that task finished, the Army discharged Carl in 1948. He returned to civil service, welding at Pearl Harbor until his retirement in 1973. In those 25 years, he was a major asset for retrofits, depot modifications, and major repairs of all Navy ship types—including battlewagons, carriers, and submarines. Near retirement, he instructed welding inside submarine nuclear power cores.

Carl and Acta had dreamed of retiring to a lake house near Newberry. But, Acta had passed a year before, so Carl went home solo. During his retirement, he was a family principal for the Kyzer clan. He married Bonnie Wylene Sites Graham in 1975, and blended easily into the Graham family.

Carl has left behind siblings Janet, Ella Rae, Betty, Dorothy, and Roy; daughter Nan Ames and her husband David Wesley French; grandchildren Matthew Aaron and wife, and Felicia Luana and husband; five beloved great grandchildren; a large Graham step-family; and many close friends in South Carolina and Florida. Toward the end, he enjoyed reminiscing about family members and his best friends at "Bill and Fran's" the "Beehive" and the "Angels."

Carl will be laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl, overlooking Honolulu and Waikiki. He shares a marker with Acta.

A memorial service will be held at 3:00 pm Wednesday, December 17, 2014, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church by the Rev. Arden Hallman.

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