Andrew Philip Carter

Andrew was born July 22, 1921 to Tom & Lorado Carter and was raised in the Buena Vista Community of Tippah County. He was the youngest of 13 siblings- who all deceased before him. Andrew was Tippah County's oldest WW2 Veteran. He was a member of Beech Hill Church of Christ and a life-long Christian. He grew up helping his parents on their fruit and vegetable farm and attended Buena Vista School until he was critically injured on October 17, 1939 while hitch-hiking to school for early morning ball practice when he fell under the wheels of a log truck hauling a heavy portable sawmill dragging him over a rocky road crushing his hips, pelvic and abdomen. Dr. Ford sent him to Baptist Hospital in Memphis where Dr. Campbell, Dr. Gish, & Dr. Mitchell did not expect him to live through the night. They did exploratory surgery to remove damaged intestines & did blood transfusions which were directly given to him by his brother-in-law Clarence Courson. Following months in a body cast and care of family members and with the will to survive and the determination to endure excruciating pain through daily exercise routines for the rest of his life, he did the impossible-he worked hard labor jobs, served his country in WW2 and continued to work on his farm all his life. When he was a teenager and his mother was sick in bed for a year he did the cooking, housework, cared for his mother, and helped his dad on the farm into the late hours of the night. He said this prepared him for night duty on the ship in WW2. A few years after the accident and the early years ofWW2 he went to Cincinnati to find work in a Tottle House with some of his buddies from Tippah County. He then worked at Wright Aeronautics. He went to Chicago to work at Dodge-Chrysler to make airplane parts for the war. He volunteered in the Navy but was turned down because of his medical record of his injuries; however, persistently wanting to serve his country to protect our freedoms he was finally accepted and stationed aboard the Merchant Marine Liberty Ship Filipe DeNeve which carried bombs, ammunition, supplies, tanks, and soldiers to various ports on the east coast of Africa and Europe, in the Mediterranean, and in the Atlantic through the English Channel to ports in Antwerp, Belgium during the Battle of The Bulge and was told by his commanding office that this was a suicide mission-and it was for many who gave their lives to protect America's freedoms we have enjoyed for almost 250 years. After the war was over, he served a few months in Pearl Harbor before going home to his farm in Buena Vista. He married Naomi Street in December 1946 and in 1950 sold his farm and moved to Memphis to work as an airplane mechanic at the Memphis Airport. When the airlines moved to Atlanta, he moved his family back to Ripley and in 1954 bought his Blue Mountain farm where his wife and children were blessed to enjoy hard-working farm life growing cotton, corn, sorghum, vegetables, fruit trees, strawberries ; tending to livestock cattle, horses, pigs, chickens and a fish pond. Needless to say his children were always well fed thanks to hard-working, sacrificing, devoted, and loving mother and father. Andrew also had a full-time job working in maintenance at American Biltrite during the daytime and farmed at night and weekends retiring from Biltrite after 26 years. He spent his retirement years traveling with Naomi throughout the United States, Canada, & Mexico while finding time to plant a large vegetable garden, harvesting figs & muskedines, building a barn all by himself from his Cyprus trees he cut down on his farm after his original barn burned. He often painted his house until his early 90s and drove his red Dodge truck to the coffee shop each morning until age 100. Memories of our father as young children are sitting on his lap while he read the Bible to us, him plowing in the fields jumping off his tractor to chase down a baby rabbit to bring to us for a pet, him often carrying us to Shiloh National Park to show us the historical monuments and importance of those who sacrificed their lives so we could be a free nation, him taking us to the Memphis Zoo and Mid-South Fair, his genuine kindness & thoughtfulness, his forever always patience-always calm, never angry, his astonishing knowledge of history and his detailed remembrance of people throughout his life, his devotion and care given to our brother Philip who spent 10 years in and out of hospitals after returning from the Vietnam War, the many sacrifices he made for his wife and children as the provider for his family. Our dad was the essence of 1 Corinthian 1 :4-8 "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." God blessed him with over 102 years on this earth. Andrew Philip Carter, Sr. was born July 22, 1921, S 1st Class Navy WWII Veteran. His parents were James Thomas "Tom" & Lorado Buchanan Carter; twelve Siblings (all previously deceased), Kitty Moffitt (Albert), Ike Carter (Winnie Wommack), Siblings of Tom and 1st wife, Lizzy Beaty who died: Jessie & unnamed infant, Siblings of Tom & Lorado: Isom (Evelyn Kelly), Van Buren (Irene Keith Pearson), Sally Lee Carter Hawkins, Perry (Benton, Col Perry), Edward (Irene Carter), Caldony "Callie" Carter Griffin (Gaston), Elmer Hampton "Hamp" (Helon Carter, Ola Thomas), Lois Carter Courson (Clarence), Flora Virginia "Pat" Carter Fant (Bob), WIFE: Natha Naomi Street Carter, daughter of John Nathan & Annie Akins Pannell Street. (Annie's mother was a Cherokee Indian) Naomi deceased June 14, 2013; six children: 2 living: Tommy Carter (Brenda Easterling) of Saltillo, Diane Grisham (Shan) of Ripley, Daughter-in-law Deana Collins Carter of Blue Mountain, 4 Deceased: Eva Maria, Philip, John "Chico", and Tina Mauney McCollum; seven grandchildren: Greggory Shannon Grisham (Heather Lauderdale) of Baldwin, David Alan Grisham (Larisa Morgan) of Tupelo, Stacey Carter Posey (Mike) of Rienzi-daughter of Kathi Mauldin Carter Johnson, Devin Carter (April Wells) of Oxford, Jonathan Carter of Oxford, Christina Carter Page (James) of Ripley, Drew Carter (Rachel Norman ) of Snow Lake Shores-son of Mary Sanders Carter Surber; seventeen great-grandchildren: Meghan Grisham Canan (Logan) of Orange Beach Ala, daughter of Melisa O'Leary Grisham, Garrett Grisham (Meri Harbor) and Harlee Anna Grisham of Ripley, son & daughter of Jennifer Witt Grisham, Baylee Grisham (Mason Echols) of Collierville, daughter of Drake Grice Grisham Dickson, Ruby Grace Grisham of Pontotoc, daughter of Chastity Ferguson Grisham Micah (Megan), Carter, Kinch, Vince, James Alan, Mary Katherine, and Jase Posey of Rienzi Anna Kate, Xander, Kaylen Carter of Oxford, Kaitlyn Carter of Ripley, daughter of Becky Irwin, Cheryl Anne Bennett of Ripley, daughter of Alan Bennett; two great-great grandchildren: Lilith "Leo" Warren of Orange Beach, Alabama, daughter of Oliver Warren, Eleanor ''Nora" Hayes of Orange Beach, Ala, daughter of Tyler Hayes; Host of Nephews & Nieces & cousins, and bonus family members. Pallbearers: Grandsons & Great Grandsons: Greg Grisham, David Grisham, Drew Carter, Devin Carter, Jonathan Carter, Garrett Grisham. Honorary Pallbearers: Great Grandsons: Micah, Carter, Kinch (out of the country on a mission), Vince, James Alan, Jase Posey, Xander Carter, The Morning Coffee Shop Crew, and to Duane Bullard who historically documents the courageous service of those who have served in the military and continually keeps in touch to help & acknowledge their service. Special Recognition Legacy Hospice Personnel nurses and doctors, and to Dr. Dwalia South who was always helping us throughout our dads long illness with her endless acts of concern & kindness. Burial with Full Military Honors.

Andrew Philip Carter

July 22, 1921 - November 4, 2023