Richard Carrete

     Richard Carrete was born October 15, 1932 in Buttonwillow, CA and passed away unexpectedly on March 26, 2020 in Bakersfield, CA after a short illness. 

      Richard grew up in Buttonwillow, the second of 8 children and attended Kern Union High School in the 1950s. After school and some odd jobs, he enlisted into the Army and served 2 years during the Korean conflict in Alaska.  It was during one of his times on leave that he met the love of his life, Tillie at a dance. They were married in 1957 and recently celebrated 63 years of marriage. Together they raised two children, Michael and Rosanne in a house filled with love.  

Most of Richard’s life was spent working at Union Cemetery where he began as a gardener and worked his way up to managing the office.  He retired in 1997 after 38 years. After retirement he continued working part time for a variety of locations, all associated with the funeral business, just to earn a little extra pocket money for his weekly bowling leagues and occasional trips to the casino. And every fall you could always find him on Saturdays rooting for his Bakersfield College Renegades at Memorial Stadium. He was a quiet man of few words, with a big heart, and great smile. 

Richard is preceded in death by his parents, Teofilo and Jessie, brother Robert, sister Maria Elena and son Michael.  He is survived by his beloved wife Tillie, his daughter Rosanne (Earl) Cornell, sisters Adella (Rudy) Torres, Julie Carrete, Martha (Mike) Dean and Angelica (Jerry) Dickenson and brother Albert (Luz) Carrete, grandchildren Jeffrey (Kristen) Cornell, Noah Cornell, Nicholas (Renee) Tomlinson, Cody Carrete and Rorie (James) Rivera-Carnes and 8 great-grandchildren who loved their Papa dearly.

A graveside service will be held at Union Cemetery on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at 1:30pm.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date due to circumstances involving travel and gathering, for family and friends.