Christopher Lance Carter: Mechanic was devoted to his family
By JESSICA INMAN ORLANDO SENTINEL |
Just before he died, on the way home from visiting a friend, a man called his wife to relay the message he had repeatedly expressed, demonstrated and lived during their 20 years together. He told her he loved her. He loved their three children. He asked her to tell them that. Christopher Lance Carter died March 28 of a heart attack. He was 45.
"[Chris was the] best father and best husband that anybody could ask for," said Stacie Carter, his wife. With his boys, ages 12 and 10, he was football coach: Practices were Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Games were Saturdays.
"He loved, loved coaching them," Stacie Carter said. He was tall — 6-feet-4 — and had played the sport himself in high school. He followed Louisiana State's team as an adult. The kids rode dirt bikes alongside their father. When teaching them to shoot a gun, he also educated them about the responsibility required to handle one. With his 15-year-old daughter, Carter went fishing. Stacie Carter said that Taylor Carter and her father also had ridden horses together and that, although Carter loved the outdoors, fishing had always been, foremost, an opportunity to spend time with his daughter. "He was always there for his kids," longtime friend Dr. Wendell Courtney said. He was a provider — for his family, for strangers. A heavy-equipment mechanic by trade, Carter was known to fix anything in need of mending, even if what needed restoration was the vehicle of someone he hardly knew. Born in Bethesda, Md., Carter was a close study of his father, a designer for Ford Motor Co. The job took the family to Apopka, where Carter, too, dove into the industry. He devoted 15 years to the company before he began a career at Orlando Paving Co. and, later, Cutrale Citrus.In the family's previous home, nestled on 15 acres, Carter's fully equipped shop was reserved nearly exclusively for the favors he would do for other people. "That's where his time was at," Stacie Carter said, "was in the shop."
There, among the dirt bikes, a lift and a television, Carter might listen to the music he loved — whether that was rock or country. He read books by Nikki Sixx. In the home, a collection of amplifiers joined nearly 20 Gibson and Fender guitars. He might play in the morning, after a night shift at Orlando Paving Co. or just before sleep. Music was something else he shared with his children. He began to teach them how to play. His daughter, to avoid being teased, had removed the hearing aids that she needed, and Carter longed for her to share in a world rich with sound. Last week, new hearing aids intact, she stood in their yard and listened to the wind. In addition to his wife, Stacie Carter, Christopher Lance Carter is survived by his daughter, Taylor Carter, and sons Austin and Justin Carter, all of Tavares; mother, Mary Carter of Apopka; and sister, Julie Murray of Altoona.Loomis Family Funeral Home, Apopka, handled arrangements.
Contributor: Tammy Bourne (49457516) •
By JESSICA INMAN ORLANDO SENTINEL |
Just before he died, on the way home from visiting a friend, a man called his wife to relay the message he had repeatedly expressed, demonstrated and lived during their 20 years together. He told her he loved her. He loved their three children. He asked her to tell them that. Christopher Lance Carter died March 28 of a heart attack. He was 45.
"[Chris was the] best father and best husband that anybody could ask for," said Stacie Carter, his wife. With his boys, ages 12 and 10, he was football coach: Practices were Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Games were Saturdays.
"He loved, loved coaching them," Stacie Carter said. He was tall — 6-feet-4 — and had played the sport himself in high school. He followed Louisiana State's team as an adult. The kids rode dirt bikes alongside their father. When teaching them to shoot a gun, he also educated them about the responsibility required to handle one. With his 15-year-old daughter, Carter went fishing. Stacie Carter said that Taylor Carter and her father also had ridden horses together and that, although Carter loved the outdoors, fishing had always been, foremost, an opportunity to spend time with his daughter. "He was always there for his kids," longtime friend Dr. Wendell Courtney said. He was a provider — for his family, for strangers. A heavy-equipment mechanic by trade, Carter was known to fix anything in need of mending, even if what needed restoration was the vehicle of someone he hardly knew. Born in Bethesda, Md., Carter was a close study of his father, a designer for Ford Motor Co. The job took the family to Apopka, where Carter, too, dove into the industry. He devoted 15 years to the company before he began a career at Orlando Paving Co. and, later, Cutrale Citrus.In the family's previous home, nestled on 15 acres, Carter's fully equipped shop was reserved nearly exclusively for the favors he would do for other people. "That's where his time was at," Stacie Carter said, "was in the shop."
There, among the dirt bikes, a lift and a television, Carter might listen to the music he loved — whether that was rock or country. He read books by Nikki Sixx. In the home, a collection of amplifiers joined nearly 20 Gibson and Fender guitars. He might play in the morning, after a night shift at Orlando Paving Co. or just before sleep. Music was something else he shared with his children. He began to teach them how to play. His daughter, to avoid being teased, had removed the hearing aids that she needed, and Carter longed for her to share in a world rich with sound. Last week, new hearing aids intact, she stood in their yard and listened to the wind. In addition to his wife, Stacie Carter, Christopher Lance Carter is survived by his daughter, Taylor Carter, and sons Austin and Justin Carter, all of Tavares; mother, Mary Carter of Apopka; and sister, Julie Murray of Altoona.Loomis Family Funeral Home, Apopka, handled arrangements.
Contributor: Tammy Bourne (49457516) •
Christopher Lance Carter: Mechanic was devoted to his family
By JESSICA INMAN ORLANDO SENTINEL |
Just before he died, on the way home from visiting a friend, a man called his wife to relay the message he had repeatedly expressed, demonstrated and lived during their 20 years together. He told her he loved her. He loved their three children. He asked her to tell them that. Christopher Lance Carter died March 28 of a heart attack. He was 45.
"[Chris was the] best father and best husband that anybody could ask for," said Stacie Carter, his wife. With his boys, ages 12 and 10, he was football coach: Practices were Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Games were Saturdays.
"He loved, loved coaching them," Stacie Carter said. He was tall — 6-feet-4 — and had played the sport himself in high school. He followed Louisiana State's team as an adult. The kids rode dirt bikes alongside their father. When teaching them to shoot a gun, he also educated them about the responsibility required to handle one. With his 15-year-old daughter, Carter went fishing. Stacie Carter said that Taylor Carter and her father also had ridden horses together and that, although Carter loved the outdoors, fishing had always been, foremost, an opportunity to spend time with his daughter. "He was always there for his kids," longtime friend Dr. Wendell Courtney said. He was a provider — for his family, for strangers. A heavy-equipment mechanic by trade, Carter was known to fix anything in need of mending, even if what needed restoration was the vehicle of someone he hardly knew. Born in Bethesda, Md., Carter was a close study of his father, a designer for Ford Motor Co. The job took the family to Apopka, where Carter, too, dove into the industry. He devoted 15 years to the company before he began a career at Orlando Paving Co. and, later, Cutrale Citrus.In the family's previous home, nestled on 15 acres, Carter's fully equipped shop was reserved nearly exclusively for the favors he would do for other people. "That's where his time was at," Stacie Carter said, "was in the shop."
There, among the dirt bikes, a lift and a television, Carter might listen to the music he loved — whether that was rock or country. He read books by Nikki Sixx. In the home, a collection of amplifiers joined nearly 20 Gibson and Fender guitars. He might play in the morning, after a night shift at Orlando Paving Co. or just before sleep. Music was something else he shared with his children. He began to teach them how to play. His daughter, to avoid being teased, had removed the hearing aids that she needed, and Carter longed for her to share in a world rich with sound. Last week, new hearing aids intact, she stood in their yard and listened to the wind. In addition to his wife, Stacie Carter, Christopher Lance Carter is survived by his daughter, Taylor Carter, and sons Austin and Justin Carter, all of Tavares; mother, Mary Carter of Apopka; and sister, Julie Murray of Altoona.Loomis Family Funeral Home, Apopka, handled arrangements.
Contributor: Tammy Bourne (49457516) •
By JESSICA INMAN ORLANDO SENTINEL |
Just before he died, on the way home from visiting a friend, a man called his wife to relay the message he had repeatedly expressed, demonstrated and lived during their 20 years together. He told her he loved her. He loved their three children. He asked her to tell them that. Christopher Lance Carter died March 28 of a heart attack. He was 45.
"[Chris was the] best father and best husband that anybody could ask for," said Stacie Carter, his wife. With his boys, ages 12 and 10, he was football coach: Practices were Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Games were Saturdays.
"He loved, loved coaching them," Stacie Carter said. He was tall — 6-feet-4 — and had played the sport himself in high school. He followed Louisiana State's team as an adult. The kids rode dirt bikes alongside their father. When teaching them to shoot a gun, he also educated them about the responsibility required to handle one. With his 15-year-old daughter, Carter went fishing. Stacie Carter said that Taylor Carter and her father also had ridden horses together and that, although Carter loved the outdoors, fishing had always been, foremost, an opportunity to spend time with his daughter. "He was always there for his kids," longtime friend Dr. Wendell Courtney said. He was a provider — for his family, for strangers. A heavy-equipment mechanic by trade, Carter was known to fix anything in need of mending, even if what needed restoration was the vehicle of someone he hardly knew. Born in Bethesda, Md., Carter was a close study of his father, a designer for Ford Motor Co. The job took the family to Apopka, where Carter, too, dove into the industry. He devoted 15 years to the company before he began a career at Orlando Paving Co. and, later, Cutrale Citrus.In the family's previous home, nestled on 15 acres, Carter's fully equipped shop was reserved nearly exclusively for the favors he would do for other people. "That's where his time was at," Stacie Carter said, "was in the shop."
There, among the dirt bikes, a lift and a television, Carter might listen to the music he loved — whether that was rock or country. He read books by Nikki Sixx. In the home, a collection of amplifiers joined nearly 20 Gibson and Fender guitars. He might play in the morning, after a night shift at Orlando Paving Co. or just before sleep. Music was something else he shared with his children. He began to teach them how to play. His daughter, to avoid being teased, had removed the hearing aids that she needed, and Carter longed for her to share in a world rich with sound. Last week, new hearing aids intact, she stood in their yard and listened to the wind. In addition to his wife, Stacie Carter, Christopher Lance Carter is survived by his daughter, Taylor Carter, and sons Austin and Justin Carter, all of Tavares; mother, Mary Carter of Apopka; and sister, Julie Murray of Altoona.Loomis Family Funeral Home, Apopka, handled arrangements.
Contributor: Tammy Bourne (49457516) •
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