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William “Bill” Joseph Carter of Spencer, Oklahoma, born April 24 th , 1943 to Grady & Frances Carter in Chickasha, Oklahoma passed away at age 78 on Wednesday, May 19 th , 2021 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty, both of his parents, and his only brother, Wayne Carter, and his wife Judy Carter.
He is survived by his two daughters, Shan Carter of Del City, and Shelli Butler and her husband Kenny of Yukon and their three kids, Tate, Tyler and Breck, and by his son, Scott Carter and his wife Amber of Spencer and their two kids, Brayden and Makiya. He will also be missed by his only sister, Audra Carter of Chickasha, Oklahoma.
Bill leaves behind a legacy of faithfulness to God and family and country.
Bill was born and grew up in Chickasha, Oklahoma. He graduated from Chickasha High School, and then attended East Central University where he met Betty at the Church of Christ Bible Chair and swept her off her feet. They married after her freshman year of college and were happily married for over 55 years until Betty passed away earlier in March of this year. They briefly lived in Lindsay where Bill taught school for a year.
He was soon drafted to the United States Army but then enlisted in the Air Force. He served for four years, the last year of which was in Vietnam. After returning to the states, the couple moved to the Oklahoma City area for another teaching job for Bill at Midwest City High School, where he was the drama coach. Finally settling in Spencer in 1972, Bill then decided that directing plays took too much time away from his family, so he wound up taking a job with the State and stayed until retirement. Still, his love for drama continued to play out from scary ghost-stories at summer campouts with the youth, to writing scripts helping VBS Bible stories come to life, to the many, many, many corny, and hilarious holiday banquet skits enjoyed by the Eastside congregation every winter for many years.
Bill and Betty attended Eastside Church of Christ from the time they moved to the Oklahoma City area, and both enjoyed serving, teaching, being involved in benevolence, going on mission trips, and fellowshipping with the saints there. Over the years at Eastside, Bill served as a deacon, and as an elder, faithfully ministering with his whole heart. There were times that Bill may have not had a lot to give monetarily but he would still find a way to meet people’s needs for food, clothing, shelter, or just simply with kind words or encouragement. He often involved his children in taking food to the needy or giving someone a ride to an appointment. His children can vividly remember Bill’s generosity in these ways, sometimes literally living out the phrase “giving until it hurts”. He was a generous and cheerful giver. Together, and separate, Bill and Betty made constant efforts like those to meet the needs of anyone who might be experiencing hardships or seemed to just need a friend. Bill was one who never knew a stranger and considered everyone a friend. If you didn’t start out his friend, you became one after spending just a few minutes with him—his exuberant spirit was captivating.
Bill was a devoted husband, a loving father and father-in-law, a caring Granddad to his five grandchildren, and truly a friend to all. And he would make sure you knew all there was to know about all of that, whether you wanted to hear it or not! There was no one more animated or charismatic about his faith, his family, his country, and ...his practical jokes. You may have even been the victim of one. If he visited your home and you let him out of your sight, it might be that you’d find hangers under your bed sheets, or fake spiders on your pillow later that night. His epic sense of humor continued even in his late years with dementia. He entertained his family and the nurses with stories about lunch with Adam & Eve, advice he would give to Donald Trump, extravagant things he invented to solve age old problems, or how he had just finished baptizing the whole cast of his favorite TV show. He even took time to write his own life story, a sample obituary and several pages of detailed advice to Shan, Shelli and Scott on what to do in the case of his and Betty’s deaths, including the definition of a Columbarium in case they didn’t understand.
Bill loved the Lord. Aside from studying his Bible, his other interests included the TV shows Star Trek and CSI, dressing up and decorating for Halloween, anything Star Wars, and working outside. Bill devoted most of the rest of his time to just being with and serving Betty. His passing so soon after Betty’s is as classic as any love story ending. He waited until Covid restrictions were lifted so that his family could tell him goodbye, then left to go spend eternity with Jesus and Betty. Bill will be missed so much by so many.
William “Bill” Carter will be honored on Tuesday, May 25 th at 10:00 AM at Eastside Church of Christ in Midwest City, Oklahoma. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made to the Eastside Church of Christ Family Center.
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