Mary Elizabeth Carter

February 9, 1932 - May 4, 2022

Mary Elizabeth Carter (formerly Mary E. Reese ) was born February 9, 1932, in Glen Burn, PA.   Her early years there were spent growing up on her father's farm and forming many deep, lifelong friendships in the cozy, nearby town of Clark's Summit.  To most of these friends and family she has always been known as "Beth."

From her parents (Thomas and Mabel Reese) she inherited an appreciation for the family's Welsh roots, a very practical wisdom, and deep sense of the value of this life.

From 1945-1949 she attended Clark's Summit High School – where she met a young, athletic classmate named David Carter .

In her early adult years she attended Keystone Junior College where she received an Associate's degree and medical training.  She subsequently worked as a medical technician.  That occupation gradually transitioned into the very full-time demands of marriage and raising a family after she and David R. Carter were married in April of 1954.

Their first child, Krista , was born in 1955.  Then came David (" Bo ") in 1958, and Amy in 1968.  All three currently live in the Baltimore-Washington area and were with her through her final days.

In the ensuing years of family life, Mary ("Beth") continually met the endless challenges of caring for three generations in a very active family.  She honed the ever-expanding array of necessary skills and lessons entailed in being the fundamental anchor and emotional home of all those around her (both two- and four-legged).

She displayed a love for poetry, history, music, singing, and the performing arts.  She had a consummate appreciation for the adventures and pleasures of camping and the proximity to nature's gifts it afforded.  And, by all appearances, she perennially experienced the most exalted levels of joy in two particular things: the subtle wit of clever comedy, and a fresh tomato sandwich.

In 1984 Beth became a grandmother – to Robert G. Viti, born to daughter Krista and son-in-law Bob Viti.  A whole new chapter had begun. Through the late 80's she enjoyed working as a part-time mail carrier in northern Virginia.  Not long after that she and Dave were thrilled to move to a house by the bay in Calvert County, Maryland, where Beth became a performing member of the "Sweet Adelines" of Southern Maryland.

Beth was sensitive and vulnerable to the inevitable tribulations of life – from the unavoidable disappointments and injustices, to the intensely tragic.  She was provided an ample share of that spectrum, and repeatedly found the courage to endure it.  In 2001 she lost her husband, Dave, and then, ten short years later, lost her grandson Rob.  In recent years Beth struggled almost perpetually with various health-related difficulties, including severe and very chronic pain.  Nevertheless her fundamental optimism would, time after time, rebound and remain indefatigable.

So now, for her friends and family, life without Beth will be irrevocably diminished.  We all will miss her dearly, and daily.  But the impact she made on each of us remains indelible, and the many seeds of love and wisdom she sowed in us will continue to sprout and bloom.

We thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and concern. We would especially like to express profound gratitude to all those who cared for Beth in her later life.

In lieu of a public ceremony, the family is planning an intimate, privately arranged memorial service to celebrate Beth's life.  It will be held in the near future.  If you would like information on this pending event please contact:

David B. Carter   - d.bo.carter@gmail.com

Amy E. Carter     - amyec225@yahoo.com

Anyone wishing to make a donation in Mary E. Carter's name can contact:

Guillain-Barre Research - https://www.gbs-cidp.org/donate/

Hospice of the Chesapeake - https://www.hospicechesapeake.org/giving/