Robert L. Carter, Proud Veteran

Robert L. Carter,  a proud veteran who marched in Sag Harbor’s parades whenever he could, died on Memorial Day at the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook, where he had lived for nearly a year. He was 82 and had Alzheimer’s disease.

 Mr. Carter and his wife, the former Joanne Williams, retired to Sag Harbor, where Mrs. Carter had vacationed from the time she was 13, after having spent many summers there. The couple attended Christ Episcopal Church, where Mr. Carter sang in the choir and was a warden of the vestry for several years. He was a member of the Chelberg Battle Post of the American Legion in Sag Harbor, having served as an Army corporal in the Korean War.

Mr. Carter was born on Oct. 2, 1932, in McKeesport, Pa., where he was raised. He attended Lincoln University in Oxford, Pa., on the G.I. Bill after the war, and met the Brooklyn native who was to become his wife at a November football game. “We had a romance by mail,” Mrs. Carter said. They were married on Sept. 17, 1960, and settled in Brooklyn, where they raised their family. He worked for his wife’s father as a tax accountant for a time and then as a pollster. When their first child came along, however, he decided he needed a more stable profession and took an exam that qualified him for employment with the City of New York’s Human Resources Administration. He was a social worker and later an administrator with the agency for 25 years. “He loved to help people,” his wife said, adding, “He was a wonderful husband and a wonderful father.”

In addition to his wife of nearly 54 years, Mr. Carter is survived by two daughters, Tiffany Carter of Providence, R.I., and Janine Carter Chevalier of Brooklyn, and a son, Anthony Prendatt-Carter of Edgewater, N.J. A brother, Kenneth A. Carter  of Buffalo, N.Y., also survives, as do a granddaughter and great-granddaughter, who was just born on Palm Sunday.

A memorial service to celebrate his life will be held at Christ Episcopal Church on June 29 at 1 p.m. Memorial donations have been suggested to the church, P.O. Box 570, or the Eastville Community Historical Society, P.O. Box 2036, both Sag Harbor 11963.