He was born Sept. 18, 1927, in Kingsport, to John Washington Carter and Vest Lee Vanzant Carter of Scott County, Va., a descendent of Colonial Virginia landed gentry and Pennsylvania Dutch farmers. He was also a cousin to several American presidents, senators and military heroes.
He graduated in 1947 from Dobbins-Bennett High School in Kingsport. He received a master’s degree in business and banking from Louisiana State University in 1972. He was a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.
He served in the U.S. Navy on the USS Enterprise during World War II and with the U.S. Army 278th Infantry during the Korean Conflict. After the Korean Conflict he continued to serve in the U.S. Army Reserve.
During the 1996 Olympics, he served with the Tennessee Defense Force (Tennessee Home Guard) commanding this security unit at the Olympics Whitewater venue in Polk County.
In 1998, while commanding the U.S. Service Command, he was promoted to the rank for four-star general. He retired from the service to his country on July 31, 2003.
He and his family moved to Cleveland in 1959 where he worked in management with Domestic Loan and Thrift.
He then went on to serve as senior vice president of the Cleveland National Bank; executive vice president of Central Bank and Trust Co. of Lexington, Ky.; president and chief executive officer of the Peoples Bank of Polk County in Benton; president and CEO of Carter Consumer Credit Corp. in Cleveland as well as several other companies before retiring.
He was one of the founding members of Stuart Park Baptist Church and was a member of Westwood Baptist Church since 1961.
In the past, he was a member of the Cleveland Kiwanis Club, vice president and campaign chairman of the Cleveland March of Dimes, member of the YMCA, vice chairman of the Cleveland City School Board, member of the Cleveland Country Club, president and chairman of the board of Ocoee Sertoma Club, governor of the Southeast Tennessee Sertoma Club International, president of the board for the Boys Club, vice commander of the North Carolina VFW, member of the Cleveland Post of the American Legion and VFW, Scoutmaster of Troop 52 and Ocoee District commissioner for the Boy Scouts of America.
In addition to his parents, two brothers and one sister, he was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Maudine Barrineau Carter.
Surviving include his son, Anthony D. Carter and wife, Mary, of Cleveland; daughter, Patricia Jo Kibble of Savannah; grandchildren: Christopher M. Carter and wife, Colleen, of Boston, Mass., Stuart Carter of Cleveland, and Katie Kibble Farmer and her husband, Toby, and Whitney Kibble; and his great-granddaughter, Abby Farmer, all of Savannah; brothers: Buddy C. Carter and wife, Louise, of Kingsport, and Jerry W. Carter and wife, Anna, of Atlanta, Ga.; sister-in-law, Pearle F. Barrineau of Daniel Island, S.C.; and several nephews, nieces, cousins and other relatives, in Kingsport, Scott County, Va., and South Carolina.
A private funeral service, with full military honors, was held at 2:30 p.m. Monday, July 19, 2010, at the graveside at Chattanooga National Cemetery.
JoRemembrances: Hospice Savannah - Post Office Box No 13190, Savannah, GA 31416-0190 or www.hospicesavannah.org.
