Obituary of Doris B. Carter

Doris B. “Dee” Carter Dee Carter passed away April 8, 2011, in Olympia, Washington. She was born August 6, 1920, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Edward and Olive Starry Abram. She attended high school and business college in Cleveland where she lived until 1940. Dee loved making changes and traveling. She had a good sense of humor and quick wit. After high school and business college, she lived and worked in NYC, attending plays, visiting museums and exploring throughout the City. When, her father passed away, Dee, her sister (Lillian) and their mother moved to West Los Angeles. She loved the scent of night blooming jasmine that filled the air around UCLA, where she worked as an executive secretary in the university hospital. In 1955, she met her husband, Warren Carter, then in the US Navy. After their marriage on February 11, 1956, in Escondido, CA, they moved to the Philippine Islands, where Dee gave birth to their only child, Nina Lee Carter, on November 25, 1956. Dee wrote long Christmas letters to family and friends about living abroad and was in her glory setting up house, caring for her new baby and learning to play piano. Dee, Warren, and little Nina traveled to Hong Kong, Japan and around the Philippines. When Warren retired from the Navy, Dee found a position for her husband in Lucern, Switzerland, in an international electronic engineering company. Dee and her seven-year-old daughter flourished in Switzerland. The small Carter family travelled to almost every European country, entertained new friends and Warren’s business associates, and generally enjoyed the winter sports and cultural life of Switzerland. One year, the Carters were transferred to Libya, where Warren set up communication systems for the Libyan government. Dee turned a sandy lot and a concrete house into a lovely oasis of gardens and patios as herds of camels strolled by outside. After moving back to Los Angeles in the 1970s, Dee worked in her favorite business: women’s clothing and better sportswear. In 1982, both Dee and Warren retired and moved to Coupeville, Washington, to care for Warren’s mother, Alice Holbrook Forrester, a Whidbey Island Pioneer descendent. Once again, Dee’s gardening and homemaking talents transformed their property near Penn Cove into an expansive garden with the help of her Garden Club friends in Oak Harbor. She loved listening to soft classical music, watching good movies featuring George Clooney, and having a good cup of coffee with a “little sweet roll.” She was a life-long Democrat and social progressive. She helped those less fortunate than her and followed international news with keen interest. Her good sense of humor and quick wit was enjoyed by many. She will be missed very much by her husband Warren Carter, her daughter, Nina Carter, and son-in-law, Thomas B. Rainey. She was preceded in death by her mother, Olive Starry; father, Edward Abram; and sister, Lillian Adams. A celebration of life and service will be announced at a later time. Inurnment will be at Pioneer Cemetery, Ebby’s Prairie, Coupeville, WA. If you wish to send a gift in memory of Dee, please consider a donation to a charity of your choice, the Oak Harbor Garden Club, or the Island County Historical Society at 908 NW Alexander Street, Coupeville, WA 98239. To leave memories of Dee or condolences for the family, please click on "View Guestbook" below.