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Eudora’s last known surviving World War II veteran celebrated his 100th birthday this month and credited his faith and his marriage as highlights of his life.
W.C. Carter – known to many as Mr. Carter – has spent nearly 60 years in the community, originally serving as a principal and superintendent in Eudora before taking a job in De Soto schools.
The benevolence of the Eudora community is what’s continued to leave him in disbelief all these years, he said. As he turns 100 years old, he recognizes how much help the community has given him all these years.
“This community has turned out for me,” he said.
A witness to history
Carter was born in Arkansas. While growing up in the Great Depression, Carter remembers having to switch schools nine times in elementary school because whenever his stepdad would get a new job hauling items with his truck they would pick up and move, he said.
He said having a milk cow helped get his family through the Depression. They always had milk and butter at least, he said. He remembers not having anything to feed the cow so he would wrap a rope around the cow like a leash and lead it down to the railroad tracks where weeds would grow tall. He would move the cow around from one clump of weeds to another.
He remembers his parents giving him a nickel for school – for which he would get a half pint of milk and a doughnut, he said.
He also remembers going to Pretty Boy Floyd’s funeral in 1934. Floyd was an infamous bank robber who lived for a time near Carter in Sallisaw, Okla. He said his brother lived across the street and recalls Floyd’s son coming to play in his yard. People in town liked him because he shared the money he stole with the community.
Carter met his wife Dorene in high school. The two married in 1944 when Carter was able to get a 10-day pass from the Army to make the three-day trek to Arkansas from where he was stationed in San Bernardino. Then they had four days to plan and be married, then about three days of a honeymoon followed.
Carter said being in the Army was the best thing that ever happened to him. For some of his time, he served as a medic stationed in San Francisco. He remembers wounded soldiers coming from the Philippines, many of whom were experiencing shell shock, he said.
The Army realized soldiers would heal faster if they were in hospitals close to their families or significant others, so Carter would travel from California to New York to drop soldiers off and pick up more soldiers in New York and start the process again.
He said he would have been disappointed if he didn’t serve and thinks all young boys need some kind of military training.
His daughter, Carol Holmes, said one of her favorite stories of her dad is him being in Times Square when news broke that the war had ended. He had traveled to Long Island for Army duties, but received a day pass to explore New York City. He was in Times Square admiring the buildings when news went across the big screen that the war had ended.
Carter was in the crowd when the iconic photo of the sailor kissing the woman in the dress in the middle of Times Square. The whole area became full of people, shoulder to shoulder, he said.
When he got out of the Army, the GI Bill helped him get a bachelor of arts in music and a bachelor of science in education from Arkansas Tech before receiving a master’s in education from the University of Arkansas.
He said he wouldn’t have been able to become a school administrator without this bill.
“Most people would say that a person like me, whose parents were divorced when I was 2 years old and bounced around to grandparents and went to 10 different schools, they think I didn’t have a chance, but I’ve had a good career,” he said.
Carter started his career as a band director in Bentonville, Arkansas, where he met Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. He even recalls Walton helping to fundraise for his band in the early ‘50s.
He and his wife had three children, Carol, Cynthia and James. The family moved to Eudora in 1967 when he got his job working for the school district.
Becoming “Mr. Carter”
All these years later, Carter is still well-known in Eudora from his time as an administrator. He looks back fondly on the opportunities he had to connect with students, he said.
“That’s love that you don’t get anywhere else,” he said.
At one time, he felt like he knew every family in Eudora, he said.
When he was working in the district, he remembers some profound moments he had with students that he feels had an impact on not only the students but also himself.
He remembers a particular boy who was repeatedly getting kicked out of class, and he’d talk to him, get him back in class and the cycle would repeat.
Eventually, he was at risk of being expelled if it happened again. Carter took the boy out to the fire escape and had an honest conversation with him – telling him that if he didn’t get it together he was going to struggle getting a job in the future without a diploma.
“I did more good than I could do with me on one side of the desk and him on the other side,” he said.
That wasn’t an unusual experience for him, though, he said. There were many students he made close connections with and helped keep in school when things were tough.
Holmes was in seventh grade when her father moved them to Eudora so when she was in high school when her father was principal. Carter remembers having to send his own daughter to the office after she got caught kissing her boyfriend – now husband – in the gym.
Carter was well-known for teachers sending students to him when nothing else seemed to be working.
Though he has retired, the amount of support he receives has only increased.
Connected to the community
Holmes said it’s amazing to see her dad turn 100, and his persistence is what’s got him here.
“We’re just very thankful for the support that dad has had that has helped allow him to be able to stay in the home,” Holmes said.
From having neighbors mow his lawn, prepare his coffee every night and just come over to check on him, there’s always someone willing to offer up help, Carter said.
When asked how he has become so connected to people throughout the community, he said “just through that front door.”
Kathy LaScala used to live behind Carter and became close family friends with the family. She’s since moved, but that hasn’t stopped her from having a close relationship with him.
LaScala makes him an apple pie every couple of weeks – his favorite, she said. She cooks him easy microwavable meals and just keeps an eye on him since his kids are further away, she said.
She doesn’t have family in Eudora herself, so Carter and his family have felt like her own family.
His impact on Eudora stems from the impact he had on so many students and families, she said.
“When you’re able to impact people in that manner, it plays a role in their lives and how they’re influenced, and they just continue to be grateful for that, and want to show their appreciation and their love and care for someone like that,” LaScala said.
The compassion from the community has made a difference in helping him keep his independence and even maybe the longevity of his life, she said.
“I think when you’re able to have that many people on hand all at once that really love and care about you, yeah, it’s got to make a difference, right? So it gives you a purpose,” LaScala said. “It gives you a reason to get up in the morning,”
Family is everything to Carter, saying that everything in his home holds a memory of either his wife or his children in some way. Staying in his home independently is a priority for Carter, and the help from others in town has made it possible. Carter took care of his wife in their home when her health deteriorated before she died in 2015.
“See, everything in this house is a museum to my marriage and my kids, and I’d just be lost without that. Everything in this house is a memory,” he said.
Some of Carter’s favorite memories are traveling with his wife. He said they were suckers for a tourist trap. Other memorable times for the family were water skiing with friends and extended relatives.
“It was a togetherness mechanism that held our family close together,” Carter said.
When asked what in his life he is most proud of, he said it all begins with marrying his wife.
“Us being baptized is probably the most important event to me. We were baptized in 1945, and then the birth of my children,” he said.
Carter said he’s no critic, and that’s something he’s proud of as he celebrates his 100th birthday. He loves people just the way they are, he said.
When he looks back at his life, the greatest lesson he wants to share with people is to get close to God, he said. Most make mistakes that have to be forgiven and, when you get down to it, that’s the most important thing, he said.
That’s closely followed by a good marriage, he said.
“There’s no comparison to any other relationship that even comes close to the support that a good wife or a good husband to a woman can have, because that’s so important,” Carter said.
Holmes had her dad answer a series of questions ranging from life stories to advice and everything in between. The book was then printed, making Carter a recently published author.
He also got to take the Honor Flight to see the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C., and said it was a special bonding trip for him and his son.
Carter is a big time computer user, he said. He likes to listen to music as much as possible because as a former band director and professional musician it’s always been a part of his life . He especially likes Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga duets.
His love for Eudora is inexpressible, he said, but the life he has had in town has been great.
Carter’s family planned a birthday party for him where the American Legion honored him and community members showed up to celebrate. He felt honored to see how many came to the party.
Eudora was the perfect place to raise kids and has been a perfect place to retire, as well.
“I had no idea that I would live the rest of my life here when I came in ‘67,” he said.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected].
