With great emotion, we share the passing of one of our founders and hop legend, Tom Carpenter, Jr.
Tom Carpenter, Jr. was a 4th generation Carpenter Ranches hop grower in Granger, WA. A devoted family man, a tenacious dreamer, and a straight shooter, Tom built a lasting legacy that will carry on for generations to come.
His impact at Yakima Chief Hops is felt in all that we do. He picked hops as just a kid and committed the rest of his life to ensuring the survival and success of Pacific Northwest hop growers by challenging a system that hurt growers and brewers, taking on a traditional system head on. Tom and two other hop families, Smith and Perrault, broke away and formed the first grower owned hop supplier company dedicated to transparency and trust which is Yakima Chief Hops as you know it today.
With a booming voice that commanded attention, humbleness, determination through tough times, and strong family values, Tom Carpenter Jr. guided Carpenter Ranches and Yakima Chief Hops through good and tough years.
Tom will be reunited with his dear wife, Betty, who he loved and missed. They were married for 64 years and raised five sons, and their family grew with 19 grandkids and 38 great-grandchildren.
Tom Carpenter Jr’s presence will be felt in the flowers at Carpenter Ranches the red pickup trucks he was known for driving, the sunrises over a hop yard, his beloved family, and the hop community he helped build.
His legacy lives on and we will honor him by continuing forward with the values he instilled in us.
Stay the course.
Tom Carpenter Jr. 1937-2023