Sellas Martin Carter, 74, died Aug. 11, 2009 in Sentara Obici Hospital. He was born in Suffolk the seventh of 12 children of the late Nancy “Lottie” and Herbert Oates Carter. He was predeceased by a sister, Alice King, and twin infant brothers, Herbert and Hubert Carter.
He was educated in the Suffolk Public Schools, including Suffolk High School, where he played football and baseball. Martin was a graduate of Chowan College and attended the University of Richmond. He served four years in the U.S. Navy and attended Suffolk Pentecostal Holiness Church. He and his brothers managed H.O. Carter Vault Company from 1960 until 1995. For a number of years he managed a part of the company on Eastern Shore. From 1974 to 1978, he managed Virginia Casket Company.
He began his real love of woodworking at the age of 14, when he took shop at Suffolk High School and his father, who was somewhat of a woodworker, gave him several power tools. Martin owned and operated Carter Woodworking and was widely known for his reproductions of fine furniture, for which he won many awards. He was especially masterful in woodturning and also did the finishes on all his work. He was a member of several woodworking clubs and also taught classes. Next to his woodworking his joy was water-fishing and sailing on his boat “Nugget.”
He was a past Exalted Ruler of Suffolk Elks Lodge No. 685 and was a member of TPA, Suffolk Moose Lodge, Tidewater Turners Association and Tidewater Woodworkers Guild.
He is survived by his wife, Eleanor Ponton Carter, two sons, Herbert Martin Carter, and wife, Gwen of Zuni, Va., Stanley Thomas Carter and wife, Mary Ann, of Redlands, Calif.; daughter, Deborah Lynn Kuethe, of Las Vegas, Nev.; mother of his children, Shelby Osborne Carter, of Zuni, Va.; stepson Pete Clough and wife, Cindy, of Columbia, S.C.; grandchildren, Martin (Marcia), April (Don), Kyle (Lori), Onawa, Sarah, Emily, Skylar, Oliver, Christian, and Alex; six great-grandchildren; brothers and sisters, Acene Byrum, of Spring Grove, Joy Johnson, Foy Gwaltney, both of Suffolk, Betty DuBose (Ellis), of Turbeville S.C., Peggy Holly, Holmes Carter, Delmar Carter (Mary Eleanor), Don Carter (Judy); and brother-in-law, Ralph King, all of Suffolk.
Funeral services will be conducted Friday, Aug. 14, 2009 at 2 p.m. in the R.W. Baker & Co. Funeral Home & Crematory, 509 W. Washington St., Suffolk VA 23434 by the Rev. Don Milner, with burial in Cedar Hill Cemetery. The family will receive friends in the funeral home Thursday from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Memorial donation may be made to the American Heart Association, Memorial & Tribute Processing Center, P.O. Box 5216, Glen Allen, VA 23058-5216. Condolences may be registered at www.rwbakerfh.com.