Janice "Jan" Elaine Carter

Janice “Jan” Carter died peacefully after a short battle with Stage IV lung cancer on June 5th, 2024. Jan was born in Lyndonville, Vermont on November 8th, 1944 and since that day has carried a strong love of music and athletics throughout her life. She participated in the high school band as a trombonist, played the piano, and was a forward on the girl’s basketball team. Jan went on to graduate from UVM with a degree in education and also received her Masters in Education which she used to teach elementary school for 40 years. While shaping young minds, Jan’s passions lived on through directing school musicals every year and coaching the girls’ basketball team, teaching them the fundamentals of the game. This love of sports was especially evident in her die-hard fandom of WVU sports. Like all WVU fans, she would revel in the highs & lows of our fandom, and often take part in the “if we just would have” that comes with being a Mountaineer.

Music was an influence in every aspect of her life. Not only did she direct school musicals but was very involved with music in her church community. Jan directed youth choirs, sung in the chancel choir, and until the very end was in not one but two bell choirs. Her love of music did not end there, she enjoyed line dancing at the community center and was a season ticket holder at the Straz for both the Broadway series and The Florida Orchestra.

Above all else, family was the most important. First and foremost, listening and taking a genuine interest in those around her allowed her to make everyone feel appreciated. Jan always showed up to support her husband and kids in all their athletic endeavors. Even after her children transitioned to adulthood, she continued to be the rock of family gatherings. Cooking and baking was her way of showing love to family and friends alike. Thanksgivings, Christmas or group functions, Jan made everyone feel loved with baked goods from scratch like cookies, pies, rolls and biscuits, pumpkin anything and let’s not forget her homemade pizza. Up until her passing Jan lead a very full life and did enjoy something for herself, travel. Jan and her husband Jay traveled all over the world. Cruising was her favorite way to see different places ranging from Alaskan glaciers, to Mayan ruins, to the vast Mediterranean cultures.

Jan will always be loved and sorely missed! She is survived by her husband, Jay Carter, her children, Michele Foster, Nic and Christina Carter, her five grandchildren, Kiara, Camille, Nya, Calvin, Mackenzie (and another little on the way in July) and her siblings, Bryant and Maelene Watson, Sue Watson and Jim Quimette, Vicki Watson and David Miller, and Steve and Tammy Carter.