Preston Henry Carter II

Preston Henry Carter II, age 67, passed away November 17, 2024 in Corpus Christi after a valiant battle with cancer.

Preston was born March 19, 1957 in Spokane, Washington to Lawrence and Bethel Carter as the second of four children. Preston grew up in a loving and active family that moved around the country with his father working in the space program. In high school Preston participated in swimming and motocross racing. After graduating from St. Charles High School in Saint Charles, Missouri in 1975, Preston returned to Washington to attend the University of Washington in Seattle (UW). Following in his father’s footsteps, he sought to join the aerospace industry and graduated from UW with an Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree in 1980. As his first job out of college, Preston moved to the Southern California desert to work as an engineer at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.

In 1982 he moved to Texas to work at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. In the Summer of 1985 Preston met the love of his life, Nancy, while they were both working at NASA. They married on April 19, 1986. In the same year, Preston received his Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

In 1992 Preston, Nancy and their 3-year-old son moved to Livermore, California for Preston to work at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). In 2000, the Carter family (now a family of 4 with a daughter) moved to Arlington, Virginia for Preston to work a 4-year tour at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) serving as a Program Manager. Preston regarded his DARPA years as some of the most rewarding of his career. For the rest of his professional career Preston continued the rhythm he’d known his whole life: moving every 2-5 years and always challenging himself and pushing the cutting edge of engineering technology. This included repeated stints at LLNL and NASA but also included the pursuit of small venture companies that attempted to develop specific emerging technologies.

Throughout his career he became a specialist in high-speed flight and space launch systems, but enjoyed working in all technology fields. Whether it was learning mining techniques for building energy storage systems in salt mines, to designing and testing hypersonic vehicles and deep space satellites, he was always developing new ideas. Preston even has patents that have survived him today. Another legacy that will survive Preston is the impact he had on future engineers. From leading “space days” at elementary schools, to hosting interns and US Air Force Academy cadets at his workplaces, to giving personalized tours of NASA or air museums, he devoted countless man-hours to the next generation.

Preston’s love for aerospace professionally was reflected in his personal life through aviation. Unfortunately, his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut fell flat early-on after being medically disqualified from US Naval Flight Training. Nonetheless, Preston earned his Private Pilot’s license and flew his 1946 Luscombe taildragger airplane all around Texas in the mid 1980’s before family life. 20 years later in the mid 2000’s he re-entered general aviation by purchasing a Soviet Union built Yak-52 to satisfy his aerobatic and aviation itch.

At home he used his technical skills to enrich the lives of those around him. One example of this was Preston’s ability to invent, build and customize home water rockets for family and friends. Another example was helping his son win 4 straight Cub Scout Pinewood Derby championships by incorporating sophisticated engineering designs. This led to his son eventually being banned from competing. In recent years he became obsessed with using his 3D printer to create items that improved the quality of life around the home, and to create toys for his grandchildren.

Preston always had a thirst for learning, especially when it came to scripture. He was born to a Catholic family and converted to Methodist as an adult, but always held onto many Catholic traditions. He was always a part of Men’s Groups, Sunday Schools and Bible Studies no matter where he lived. He enjoyed attending new churches and always insisted on sitting at the front of church (even at the protest of his family members).

Preston is survived by his wife, Nancy; son and daughter-in-law, Albert and Melissa; daughter, Cathy; his grandchildren, McKenna and Garrett; siblings Susan (Ken) and Paul Bradley. He will always be remembered for the “Big Fish” stories he told, the quirky but wise “Preston-isms” he taught to those around him, and fly-fishing shirt Fridays.

Visitation from 4-8 PM on Friday, November 29, 2024, with a Rosary at 7 PM will be held at Memory Gardens Cemetery, 8200 Old Brownsville Rd, Corpus Christi, TX 78415. Funeral services will be held at 10 AM on November 30, 2024 at Asbury Methodist Church, 7501 S. Staples St., Corpus Christi, TX 78413 with burial to follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests monetary donations in honor of Preston be made to Asbury Methodist Church in Corpus Christi (www.asburycc.org), Dripping Springs Methodist Church (www.dsmethodist.org) or Samaritan’s Purse (www.samaritanpurse.org).