Wendell E. Carr

So. Burlington – Wendell E. Carr, 84, passed away October 2, 2024 at the University of Vermont Medical Center.

Wendell was born on May 24, 1940, in Montpelier, the son of Wendell I. Carr and Lucina (Cummings) Carr. The family moved to Burlington when he was 3, and spent most of his life in that area.

He was a 1958 graduate of Burlington High School, where he was on the cross-country and baseball teams. He played basketball in the YMCA Church League for the First Congregational Church and was the league's Most Valuable Player his senior year.

He was a 1962 graduate of the University of Vermont, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. While at UVM, he was a member of Delti Psi fraternity, he was also on the freshman basketball and track teams.

Most of his working life was spent at the IBM plant in Essex Junction, where he was the unofficial site statistician for nearly 30 years. He worked with engineers and technicians to set up in-line quality control plans, end-of-line sampling plans, and experiments to improve the manufacturing process.

While at IBM, he taught classes in statistics and wrote the column "Problem Corner" for the monthly IBM statistical newsletter, which went to all sites worldwide. The column gave 3 problems, with solutions elsewhere in the same issue. These problems were later put into categories and published as a book, Statistical Problem Solving.

He was the author of numerous papers for national quality control magazines and conferences, as well as a reviewer of papers submitted to Quality Progress, the monthly magazine of the American Society for Quality Control at that time.

Away from work, he played basketball in the IBM and Burlington men's leagues, was a member of Kwiniaska Golf Club, and started and finished 22 marathons (26.2-mile run races). Other pastimes were skiing (downhill and cross-country), biking (pedal and motorcycle), and hiking. Red Rocks Park in So. Burlington was his favorite place for just a walk.

He always liked doing math problems for fun. In his retirement years, he added crossword and Sudoku puzzles to his daily routine.

Wendell is survived by his longtime companion Joan Coady; brother Rod Carr; former wife Betsey Carr and their children and spouses: Cassandra and Bruce Bourgeois, Stephanie and David Massey, and Michael and Kristina Carr; son-in-law Dave Resi; 14 grandchildren: Michelle Nadeau (Bourgeois), Elizabeth Resi, Alexandra, Cara and Ayla Allen, Courtney, Stariana, Devyn, Aida, Isaiah and Maddie Massey, and Ava, Mason and Landon Carr; 9 great-grandchildren: Caleb, Elijah and Simon Nadeau, Millicent Resi, Scarlett, Lilliana and Axton Allen, and Rosalina and Rayna Massey; several cousins.

Wendell was predeceased by his daughter Millicent Resi; grandsons Caleb Bourgeois and Payton Allen; stepmother Betty Carr; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 10:00am in the chapel of the First Congregational Church of Burlington, 38 So. Winooski Ave., Burlington, VT.