In September 2013, Carpenter suffered a stroke and was hospitalized in the Swedish Medical Center in Denver. He was then admitted to the Denver Hospice Inpatient Care Center. He died on October 10, 2013, at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, four sons and two daughters, a granddaughter, and five step-grandchildren. The Governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper, ordered flags to be flown at half mast. A public memorial service was held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Boulder, which was attended by fellow astronauts John Glenn, Gene Cernan, Charles Duke, Rusty Schweickart, Jack Schmitt, David Scott, Charles Bolden, Dan Brandenstein, Bob Crippen, Bruce McCandless II, Dick Truly and Charles D. Walker. His remains were cremated and the ashes buried on the family's ranch near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. When asked in 2012 what his legacy would be, he replied: "I was an astronaut and an aquanaut."