Marshall Carpenter
Marshall Carpenter was born in February 9, 1928 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He began going into the poolrooms as a kid selling peanuts, which led to his nickname, ‘The Tuscaloosa Squirrel’. Squirrel quickly took a liking to the game, and once it got to the point he could beat everybody locally, he began to travel.
Squirrel spent about 25 years playing pool on the road, including time with ‘Minnesota Fats’, ‘Rags’ Fitzpatrick and Eddie Taylor. The game of One Pocket became his specialty. He and Eddie Taylor became good friends back in the mid-fifties, and they both were among the players that used to gather at the Jansco Brother’s in Johnston City before George and Paulie began to hold tournaments. ‘Squirrel’ played in the very first Johnston City One Pocket tournament in 1961 and he won the One Pocket division at Johnston City in 1962, then fell second to Taylor in 1963.
He was elected into the One Pocket Hall of Fame in 2005.
After retiring from pool in favor of golf for many years, ‘Squirrel’ came back to pool in his later years, and still enjoyed getting out to his local room to compete until recently.
Renowned for his masterful control of both cue ball and object balls, fellow hall of fame member Grady Mathews said of ‘Squirrel’, that he had “about the prettiest touch in pool.”
He is survived by his wife Judy and his son, Marshall Jr and his wife Jenny, sister-in-law Lori Bartman and her husband Kelly, and granddaughters Eleanor and Elizabeth. Memorial services are scheduled for April 10, 2020 at 2PM at Memory Chapel Funeral Home, 2200 Skyland Blvd, E Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The family is hoping to hold a celebration of his life once public health restrictions have been lifted.
In lieu of flowers, at the request of his family, donations can be sent to the One Pocket Hall of Fame in his name.
