Jonathan “Joe” Carter

Jonathan "Joe" Carter was born Feb. 14, 1921, to the late John and Ella Carter in Waynesville in Brantley County, Ga. He attended the public schools of Brantley County. He married Rebecca Hamilton, and together, they reared nine children.

At an early age, Jonathan was an active member of St. Paul A.M.E. Church, where his father was the Sunday School superintendent. He later affiliated with Miracle Temple Outreach Ministries in Woodbine, Ga. He was nurtured spiritually by Pastor Elder Erta Clay Livingston Jr. and attended Thursday night Bible study faithfully. Joe was drafted by the U.S. Navy in 1944 and served until 1946. He attended training at the Naval Recruiting Station in Columbus, Ga. He was stationed at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Bainbridge, Md., and his ship assignment was the USS Reina Mercedes.

He was a hard worker all his life. Over the course of his lifetime, he dipped turpentine for a short period. He worked at the Hercules Brunswick Facility. His final job was at the St. Regis Paper Company-Allied Operations, which he retired from in 1982. In addition to working for other companies, Joe was an entrepreneur at heart. He had a taxi service for years transporting friends, neighbors and community members to appointments, the bank and the grocery store. He had a personal lending service. He would lend money to those in need, and he made sure he was paid as promised on pay day. He also had a few home businesses.