Travis Carnes

Travis John Allen Carnes, Sr. was a bright young man with innate abilities of physical skill and sharpness of mind. He was as quick to pick up on a sport as he was to calculate a math problem. Of all the things he enjoyed, being a father was the greatest. He truly loved his boys and cared for them deeply. If in his young life, he experienced many challenges as well as the love of his family who tried to make things right for him, Travis would also wish his sons to have the very best life possible.

Travis was born Travis John Allen Elliott to Dana Elliott and Richard Guenther in Muskegon, Michigan on December 19, 1986. The decade had begun with the release of 52 American hostages from 444 days of captivity in Iran and the swearing-in of the nation’s first female Supreme Court Justice. In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated with the inscription of 57,939 names of US military, and four years later, Americans mourned the loss of seven astronauts in the explosion of space shuttle Challenger. In entertainment and culture, the movie Flashdance gave rise to such fashions as tank tops, tight-fitting pants, torn jeans, leg-warmers and big hair.

Travis and his older brother Tommy grew up on the east side of Muskegon in the Carriage House Apartments, just around the corner from Dana’s mother who helped take care of the children. The boys enjoyed a rather typical childhood of fun and mischief, including the normal amount of fights between brothers. Then in 1991, Dana married Frank Carnes, and the family of four moved into a home they bought on Grand Avenue. When Frank officially adopted the boys in 1996, Travis Elliott became Travis Carnes.

Travis attended Nims Elementary and Bunker Jr. High School and found that his size made him a good candidate to play in the Lakeside Youth Football League. He was good in sports, but as time went on, Travis and school didn’t seem to match up. Travis didn’t always hang with right crowd, but he did find a true friend in Rita Grewal.

Travis and Rita started seeing each other and began a family together when, in 2001, they became parents to a son they named Travis Jr. With the help of Travis’ parents, the two raised TJ and two more sons, Camren born in 2007 and Alex in 2011.

Eventually, Travis received his GED from Fruitport Schools. He proved to have a knack for math and could easily figure things out in his head. These skills were complemented by his natural ability in sports.

He loved to play golf and was an excellent pool player, even playing on a league for the Patio Bar. Such was the good life for Travis, but he had other challenges that he battled through the years. He was one of those guys who happened to get caught whenever he did the least little thing wrong. Thankfully, Travis knew he needed to change his lifestyle and was working on that.

Recently, Travis had been in Florida and North Carolina, where he worked for his biological father harvesting Christmas trees. He had just returned home to Muskegon for a visit with his parents and to see his children when the demons he had been fighting finally took him. He died on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at the age of 25. Travis will be deeply mourned and greatly missed by all who knew him.

Mr. Travis John Allen Carnes Sr. is survived by his sons, Travis John Allen Jr., Camren Lee Eugene and Alexander Scott Allen Carnes and the mother of his children, Rita Grewal; parents, Dana (Frank) Carnes; biological father, Richard Guenther; brother, Tommy Elliott; stepbrother, Patrick McChesney; grandmother, Darlene Elliott; aunts and uncles, Denise (Gary) Treesh, Linda (Mike) Parker, Patricia Dietz; friends, Brian (Serena) Orcutt, Joey Orcutt, Nick (Sara) Vandenbosch and Steve (Debbie) Stuart. He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Daniel Clark Elliott in 2009. A Celebration of Travis’ life will be held Saturday, December 8, 2012, 3:00-5:00 and 7:00-9:00 PM with a time of sharing at 7:30 PM at Clock Life Story Funeral Home - Muskegon. Memorials contributions made to the Family are greatly appreciated. Please visit www.clockfuneralhome.com to leave a memory or sign the online guest book.

Clock Life Story- Muskegon