Carl Mesle Jr

Frank Carl Mesle, Jr.
F. Carl Mesle, Jr., 99, passed away Wednesday, July 23, 2014 at Rosewood Health Center. Carl was born Oct. 14, 1914, to Frank Carl Mesle Sr. and Mary Ocelia (Lewis) Mesle in Oneida, NY. Carl married Alice Kathalea Sprague (Kay) on June 4, 1941, at the Stone Church, in Independence. Kay preceded him in death in 2009. Carl had two siblings, Richard Lewis Mesle and Dorothy Mesle Fisher. All preceded him in death. He leaves his children: Sharon Kay Mesle Morain, (Bill), Catharine Ann Mesle (Terry Christenberry) and Charles Robert Mesle (Barbara); five grandchildren (Emily, Jonathon, Sarah, Mark, Meg), four step grandchildren (Anne, Peter, Laura, Christina) and 7 great grandchildren.

Carl was raised in Sherrill, New York. A life-long advocate for the Boy Scouts, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout and participated in the 1929 International Boy Scout Jamboree in England.

Carl attended Graceland College, and graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in History in 1937. On graduation, Carl worked as a professional Boy Scout in Camden, N.J., until he entered military service in 1941, earning the rank of Major in the Corps of Engineers, and completing training in the OSS.

After WW II, Carl returned to professional Scouting in K.C., MO, under H. Roe Bartle, before entering full time appointment for the Community of Christ (RLDS) in 1947, where he worked as an assistant to the First Presidency in religious education, camping, ministry to the military and college students, family ministry, and finally as pastor of the Stone Church from 1970 until his retirement in 1979. Carl remained active in the Stone Church and Scouting with troop 223 until the end.

Carl devoted his life to community service. He served as President of the William Chrisman PTA, 1963-1964, and helped found the PTA at the newly formed Truman High School in 1964. He was appointed to national, state and local committees associated with his work with children and youth including appointment to the White House Conference on Children and Youth in 1950, A Missouri Governor’s Committee on Children, the National Board of the American Camping Association, and he served as Chair of the Advisory Committee on Jackson County Children’s Institutions, in support of the programs of McCune, Hilltop and Highview.

He and his wife Kay were instrumental in the founding of Independence Board of “Meals on Wheels,” where he served on the Board. He served on the Boards of Heritage House Retirement Apartments, John Knox Village, Compassionate Friends, and Prime Health. He was President of McCoy Neighborhood Ass’n. and on the Board of Independence’s Neighborhood Counsels.

His many awards include: 1978 Kiwanis Club and Missouri Senate cited him for his years of community service; 1994, the mayor of Independence, MO, declared “Carl Mesle Appreciation Day;” 1995 Kiwanis Club’s Missouri Municipal League’s Civic League Award; 2000, Truman Heartland Community Foundations’ ‘City of Independence Citizen of the Year Award;” 2007 “Harry S. Truman Special Recognition Award” for Public Service; 2011 the City of Independence, McCoy Neighborhood “Good Neighbor Award;” 2013 “Outstanding Contribution to the African American Community of Independence, MO.”

Carl touched many lives. He was loved, and will be missed by his family and his many friends, all of whom meant the world to him. He believed in working to make the world a better place, and devoted his life to that cause wherever he was. As a camper he taught his children and Scouts to leave the campsite cleaner than it was when we arrived, and to always leave enough wood for the first fire for those campers who came next-whoever they might be.

Contributions in Carl’s memory may be made to the Stone Church or to Outreach International.

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