Jack was born to Austin Leslie and Margaret Jane (MacEachern) Carter on May 01, 1936 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He proudly served his country in the United States Air Force, retiring after 20 years of service. Jack was stationed in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Bermuda, California, South Carolina, and finally at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. Jack met his wife of 48 years, Joyce, in Gloucester. Joyce and Jack’s sister, Ann, were best friends. To Jack and Joyce were born three children – Jay of Moore, OK, Jolie of Edmond, OK, and Jason of Plano, TX. After his military career Jack continued his civil service career in Bio Environmental Engineering at Tinker and retired after 20 plus years.
While in Japan, Jack discovered the game of golf, which he thoroughly enjoyed the rest of his life. Many vacations were spent with at least one or two rounds of golf at the local course, with road trips often finding more golf clubs than luggage in the car. Jack taught each of his kids to golf, even hiring a golf pro to help teach them what he could not. His not-so-secret wish was that one of his children might become a golf pro so he could be their caddy. As the kids became adults, the four of them were in golf tournaments together whenever the opportunity arose. Jack was an excellent golfer, with none of his children ever beating him. No matter what allowances he gave they just couldn’t beat him at golf.
With Jack and Joyce growing up on an ocean island, they had a profound love for water. Most family vacations had the destination of water – whether the east coast or the gulf – and included activities of sailing, walking and running on the beach, picking up sea shells, touring Busch Gardens or Sea World. Jack also enjoyed sailing; he and Joyce purchased a 30 ft. sailboat, lovingly christened “At Last”, in which they spent many weekends sailing on Lake Texoma.
Anyone that knew Jack also knew of his strong love for OU football. Win or lose, they were his team, even before he came to Oklahoma. As coincidence would have it, he played on a team named “Sooners” during his middle school days. Jack knew stats, players, and tactics, and made sure he shared that information with anyone that would listen. Jack had OU football season tickets for many years, never missing a home game, until his health deteriorated. Even then, he watched the game from his favorite chair.
Jack is preceded in death by his parents; brothers, George and Charles Carter; and foster brothers, John and Vincent Boyle, and Joseph Muise. Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Joyce Carter and their three children; John “Jay” Carter II and wife Regina and their children Amanda, Keegan, James, and Jackson; Jolie Carter and partner Deb and their children Kelcie, Zach, Kimberly, and Boston; and Jason Carter and his children Haylie and Kaden; and sister, Ann Lander and her husband Francis; and a host of nieces and nephews. Jack’s family was his first priority and his greatest pride and joy. Jack will be dearly missed by his wife, children, and grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 16, 2013. The funeral service will be held at the Bill Eisenhour Southeast Chapel on Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. Military honors will be held on Friday, October 18, 2013 10:00 a.m. in the Ft. Sill National Cemetery, Elgin, Oklahoma. Condolences may be offered at www.eisenhourfuneral.com
Jack and Joyce lost their home in the May 3rd tornado and in turn lost most of their pictures. If you have any pictures of Jack please add them to the guest book to share with the family.
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