Charles "Wayne" Carter

Charles Wayne Carter, age 98, died July 15 at Parkview Care Center in Fairfield

Visitation for family and friends will be 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Monday, July 20, 2015 at Behner Funeral Home.

Services will be Tuesday, 2:00 pm, July 21, 2015 at Behner Funeral Home with words of comfort by Pastor Todd Holman. Burial with Military rites will be at Rock Creek Cemetery near Ollie.

Memorials can be made to First United Methodist Church or Fairfield Library. Cards and memorials can be mailed to: Brian Carter, 200 West Webster, Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641.

Mr. Carter was born July 8, 1917 on a farm outside Ollie, Iowa the son of Charles and Jenny Carter. He grew up helping his dad farm and attending Ollie High School from which he graduated in 1935. He then attended Iowa Wesleyan College and graduated from that school on June 4, 1939. He began a teaching career in Keokuk County, Iowa and then began teaching in Lovilla, Iowa in 1940. There he met Clara Helen Edwards, a fellow teacher.

In early 1942, Wayne entered the navy and completed the schooling that earned him the rank of ensign. As a naval officer he served in the European theater, taking part in the invasion of Normandy. He transferred back to the US and married Helen in Washington DC on December 3, 1944. At wars end in 1945, he served in the Pacific Theater.

In 1946 and 1947, Wayne earned a master’s degree in school administration from the University of Iowa, attending classes on the GI Bill. He began a career as a school administrator in Red Oak and Moline before serving as superintendent at Wayland, Iowa from 1951-1958. During this time he and Helen became the parents of three sons – Greg, Brian, and Roger.
In 1958 He moved to Fairfield and served as principal of the Fairfield Junior High until 1974. He served as principal of Lockridge Elementary School until his retirement in 1979.

Wayne was an avid reader and an avid golfer. He won several trophies in horseshoe pitching. He was a long time member of the Fairfield Methodist Church, Walton Club and the Fairfield Lion’s’ Club from which he received a life time membership award in 2014. In retirement Wayne and his wife were active participants in the Fairfield Square Dance Club. They spent winters from 1981 to 1994 in the Rio Grande Valley as “Winter Texans”

He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, who passed away October 31, 2003. He is survived by his sons and their wives, Greg and Mayanne Carter of Lisbon, Iowa Brian and Karen Carter of Mt. Pleasant, and Roger and Lynn Carter of North Aurora, Illinois. He is also survived by nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

On-line condolences can be made to the family at: behnerfh.com.