In Memory of John Carstarphen

1940– 2021

On July 9, 2021 John Edwin Carstarphen passed away peacefully and joined the love of his life, Oktavia Carstarphen who preceded him in 2010. His keen intellect, lively humor and loving presence among us will be sorely missed by all his family and friends.

On July 9, 2021 John Edwin Carstarphen passed away peacefully and joined the love of his life, Oktavia Carstarphen who preceded him in 2010. His keen intellect, lively humor and loving presence among us will be sorely missed by all his family and friends.

John was born in Houston, TX in 1940 to Jean House Carstarphen and Chapel Price Carstarphen. He lived in several states in the U.S., as well as in Spain and Germany, before returning to Texas in 1971.

He left high school early to join the army and served two years. Afterwards, hit by the travel bug, he hitchhiked his way across Europe, following his dream to eventually reach Australia. On the way, he worked several months on a merchant ship around Africa. He enjoyed meeting local people during his shore leaves, although perhaps a bit too much, as he woke up one morning surprised to find he had one ear pierced. He then worked as an English-speaking foreign correspondent for U.S. newspapers in Europe. With no experience and little Spanish language skills, he bluffed his way into a job with Associated Press International.

During his trek across Europe, he also worked as a journalist in Germany where one rainy night, he missed his bus home and decided to stop in a nearby pub to wait out the storm. There, he met Oktavia Dertinger, a native German, asked her to dance, and was quickly smitten. They got married, had two children and moved to the U.S. in 1965. John continued to work for newspapers in Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa, as well as the World Neighbors magazine in Oklahoma.

After 10 years of journalism, he switched careers and become a peace officer. He was drawn to the profession by his desire to protect and serve his community. He served on the University of Houston Police Department, City of Alvin Police Department, Texas A&M University-Galveston Police Department, and Galveston Police Department (GPD). While serving with the GPD, John heard a call for aid by a fellow officer who was in pursuit of a suspected armed robber. Despite being on lunch, John was the nearest officer and without hesitation, responded to the call. Upon arriving, he saw that the suspect had fought with the officer, pushed him to the ground, taken his gun and was aiming it at the officer. John shouted for the suspect to drop his weapon and aimed his own gun, but the suspect pivoted and took the first shot, striking John's outstretched arm.  John was shot a second time in the side which exited his back. John's timely intervention had saved the life of the fallen officer, enabling him to get up and defend himself. During the shoot-out, other officers arrived on the scene and helped apprehend the suspect, while John was rushed to the hospital. He died on the operating room table but was quickly revived by the doctors. When asked what it was like to die, all he remembered was the proverbial "white light" and a feeling of immense peace. John continued to serve on the GPD and retired from police work after almost 20 years in 1991.

He continued to serve in the Texas National Guard, retiring in 2003 with 27 years of Military Service. A highlight of his service in the Guard was a one-year deployment to Hungary in support of the international peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia that had suffered a devastating civil war in the early 1990s. John was initially somewhat reluctant about the mission and questioned the Guard's role. However, he served faithfully. During a few days off, he decided to see first-hand what the war had wrought and saw the devastation of entire communities.  This affected him deeply and upon his return, he felt certain that he and the Guard were there for the right reasons and vowed that he would do anything to help prevent such devastation in the future.

John's community volunteerism included the Oklahoma Volunteer Civil Air Patrol, the Galveston Elks Lodge and Galveston Lions Club. John was an avid member of Galveston Lions clubs, serving in numerous leadership positions that took him around the state and multiple countries, culminating in his induction into the Lions Hall of Fame in 2011.

The family will remember him most for his uncanny ability to find humor in even the darkest of situations, his life of service, and his beautiful singing voice.

He is survived by his daughter Nike Carstarphen and her wife Alexandra Gardner of Baltimore, MD; his son Chapel Carstarphen and his wife SungHee and their son Timothy of San Antonio, TX; his sister Louise Carstarphen of Houston, TX; brothers-in law Rudolf Dertinger and Christian Dertinger in Germany and their families.

A memorial service with Military Honors will be held 11am Monday, July 19,at Carnes Brothers Funeral Home, 1201 Tremont, in Galveston. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a tax deductible donation to the Texas Lions Camp, www.lionscamp.com.