Dr. William T. Carleton

Dr. William Talbot Carleton, who passed away on December 31, 2015, was born on December 3, 1912 in Newton Center, Massachusetts, where he was raised with one sister, Marjorie. He was the state’s youngest Eagle Boy Scout. The son of William Salter Carleton and Josephine Talbot Carleton, he went to Middlesex School and graduated from Williams College in 1935 with a BS in chemistry. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1939, interned at Memorial Hospital (now part of the University of Massachusetts) in Worcester, MA, and joined the Navy in July 1941. Dr. Carleton married Isabel Curtis Baker in Worcester, MA on August 2, 1941 and joined the newly-commissioned Navy hospital ship USS Solace (AH-5) as a physician in early September 1941.

The Solace sailed from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Cuba, where LTjg Carleton was thrilled to see the two newest battleships, USS North Carolina and USS Massachusetts, in Guantanamo Bay. The ship passed through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles, and on to Pearl Harbor, HI. The Solace was part of the fleet which was attacked by the Japanese in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The hospital ship was not hit, but handled injured sailors, many badly burned, from nearby ships for days following the surprise attack. This was before modern antibiotics such as penicillin were available.

The USS Solace took part in the battle of the Coral Sea six months after the “Day of Infamy” attack at Pearl Harbor. Then Dr. Carleton left the fleet and was reassigned stateside. In 1945 he returned to the Pacific war theater, treating casualties from island assaults such as Okinawa. Following the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945 many servicemen who had been prisoners in Japan were brought to the 103rd Fleet Hospital on Guam where CMDR Carleton was in charge of treating the officers. His conversations with the former prisoners, all of whom were suffering from multiple diseases and malnutrition, were memorable.

He was discharged from the Navy and returned to Harvard Medical School for additional training under the G.I. Bill. Dr. Carleton served as a family physician in Worcester, MA for 47 years, retiring in 1992 at age 80. He and Isabel traveled overseas often, grew orchids, played bridge, loved to cook, and read extensively. Golf was a life-long passion which he gave up at age 98, despite shooting a 40 on his last nine holes played in River Bend, NC, because he could not hit as far as he wished. Following the death of Isabel in 2008 after 67 years of marriage, Dr. Carleton moved to New Bern, NC, but remained a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan.

Dr. Carleton is survived by three sons and eight grandchildren. Son William Baker Carleton lives in New Bern, NC with his wife Carolyn. John Talbot Carleton lives in St. James Plantation, NC with his wife Christy. Curtis Randall Carleton resides on Kiawah Island, SC with spouse Nancy. Bill has two children, William Talbot Carleton II of Annapolis, MD and Catherine Carleton Rainey of Alexandria, VA. John has three children: Mary Elizabeth McCaffrey of Fairfield, CT, John Talbot Carleton, Jr of Santa Monica, CA, and Charles Baker Carleton of Cleveland, OH. Curtis has three children: Emily Carleton Vaughan of Chevy Chase, MD, Elissa Carleton Fontenot of Houston, TX, and William Randall Carleton of Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Carleton is also survived by eleven great-grandchildren.

A private memorial services will be held at a later date.