* Joseph Howard Carl; Retired Accountant

Joseph Howard Carl, a retired accountant, died Friday at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks from complications following surgery. He was 89.

He was born April 27, 1911, in San Antonio, the fourth son and sixth child of William Christopher and Oliver Purnell Carl. Shortly after he was born, his family returned to their home in East St. Louis, Ill. He grew up there and graduated from high school in 1929.

Throughout his high school years, he worked with his father and older brother in the building and electrical trade. When he was 20, he enjoyed singing in a men’s quartet on a weekly radio program in East St. Louis.

He worked as an accountant for the U.S. Treasury Department and traveled a three-state territory in his early years with the agency. He met Elizabeth Farrell in 1938, and the couple married on his birthday in 1940.

He served in the Army during World War II, and was in Africa and Europe from 1943 to 1948. At the end of the war, he was stationed at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters in France.

After the war, he continued working for the government both in Illinois and Inglewood until retiring after 29 years of service.

He and his wife moved to California in 1963 and to Newbury Park in 1971. Two years later, they moved to Westlake Village.

Carl worked as a manager of a self-storage warehouse in Agoura for several years after retiring from the Treasury Department.

He was an elder at the Presbyterian Church in East St. Louis and at one time was president of a 900-member men’s Sunday School class. He was also active in the Presbyterian Church in Westlake Village and was a member of the Thousand Oaks Kiwanis Club and the Conejo Valley Masonic Lodge.

Family members said he was an avid and talented woodworker and made many gift and craft items for friends and family.

The couple also enjoyed traveling and had taken trips to Europe and South America.

He was preceded in death by his wife, who died one month short of their 60th anniversary in March 2000, and brothers and sisters Chris Carl, Mabel Carl, Paul Carl, Rose Carl Edelen and Ruth Carl.

He is survived by his brother, Prosper Carl of Independence, Mo., and numerous nieces and nephews.

A private service and inurnment will be held Tuesday.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the American Heart Assn.

Arrangements are under the direction of Pierce Bros. Valley Oaks Mortuary in Westlake Village.