Former Mannington President Dies

Paoli, N.J., January 31, 2007--Carl G. Sempier, 75, of Malvern, retired company president and husband of a former Miss America, died at home Thursday of myelodysplasia, a bone marrow disease. Mr. Sempier retired in the late 1990s as president of Mannington Mills, a floor-covering manufacturer in Salem County, N.J. He was then an international consultant for Safeguard Scientifics until 2001. Previously, he worked for IBM, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and then the Penn Central Railroad. He also had owned an information systems company and had been a bank vice president in Reading. Mr. Sempier, a native of Verona, N.J., earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he played football for legendary coach George Munger. At Penn, he met Evelyn Ay when she befriended his Great Dane. They married in 1954, two months after Ay's yearlong reign as Miss America ended. For 13 years, Mr. Sempier flew jets in the Naval Reserve before retiring as a commander in the 1970s. He maintained his pilot's license and flew family and friends on pleasure trips. He won numerous golf trophies, his daughter Carlyn Darby said, and had a handicap of eight. Mr. Sempier was a member of the Aronomink Trap Shooting Club and several golf clubs. He was director of the Musser Foundation, a charitable organization. He was known for his large dogs, his hats, and his endless supply of jokes, his daughter said. In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Sempier is survived by another daughter, Stacy; a brother; and two grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Paoli Presbyterian Church, 226 S. Valley Rd., Paoli.