Keith Clark Carter

Keith Clark Carter, 100, born March 26, 1925, in Cleveland, Texas, passed September 16, 2025. Entering the service in 1943, Keith first attended the Army Specialized Training Program, in preparation for officer school, but when troops were urgently needed, he was shipped with the 102nd Infantry Division to the European front. After an attack on Flossdorf, near the Ruhr River in north Germany, in 1944, Keith was escorting German prisoners to battalion headquarters when he veered across enemy lines, was shot twice and taken captive, and then spent the remainder of the war as a POW. Awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, Keith later wrote about his wartime experiences in a self-published memoir, “Just Another Soldier.” Where some might have become bitter, Keith later in life learned some German (in addition to the Spanish and French he’d learned before) and delighted in using foreign phrases in conversation. 

Having been valedictorian of his high school class, Keith made use of the GI Bill to spend three very memorable semesters at Rice University. He finished undergraduate work at the University of Texas at Austin and earned a law degree there in 1950, having been a member of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity. Keith believed strongly in the U.S. Constitution.

While visiting back in Cleveland, Keith met Ghita Brockway, a new librarian in town, at church, and the two married in 1951. Specializing in contracts, Keith worked as a landman for Continental Oil Company (Conoco), in Houston, for almost 30 years. He took early retirement and then coordinated the Petroleum Land Management program at UT Austin for nine years, after which he retired again. In 1997, Keith and Ghita moved to Sun City Georgetown. During their retirement, they greatly enjoyed domestic and international travel, including at least 20 Elderhostel programs. Keith's other hobbies included golf, fishing, music, puns, photography, reading, and Scrabble. A devout Baptist, Keith over the years attended First Baptist Church, Spring Branch, Western Hills Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Tallowood Baptist Church, Houston, First Baptist Church, Georgetown, and the Worship Place, Sun City, among others. He served as a deacon, taught Sunday School almost 40 years, and was proud of singing bass in church choirs. For a number of years, he served as a greeter at St. David’s Hospital in Georgetown, where he sometimes burst into song.

Keith is survived by his wife of 74 years, Ghita Carter, his children, Jamie Carter Bollich (Andrew), of Beaumont, Texas, Steve Carter (Marlys Lamar), of Denton, and Julie Carter of San Marcos/Austin, as well as his grandchildren: Alyson Stewart, Stephen Bollich, Kathryn Bollich-Ziegler, Susan Johnson, Simone Carter Zimmerman, and Daniel Carter. Also surviving him are great-grandchildren Charlie, Teddy, and Clementine Stewart; Sam and Dylan Bollich; Riley and Zoey Bollich-Ziegler; and Lily Johnson. Keith is predeceased by his parents, Dora Wright Carter and Virgil Willis Carter, and his siblings: Edith Helen Kirkham, Mary Alice Ray, Wright Carter, Edna Sue Gassiott, and Robert Aubrey Carter, as well as a son-in-law, Mark Carter.

The Carters are deeply grateful to the staff at the Wesleyan Assisted Living facility, the Enhabit hospice team, and the Right at Home staff who helped Keith during his last days, most especially Lisa Moore, who went above and beyond to make sure he (and we) had what was needed.

Visitation and a service were held Monday, September 22nd, at Ramsey Funeral Home. Family and friends then gathered to visit at Mulligan’s in Sun City. Burial took place September 23rd at College Mound Cemetery in Terrell, Texas. Donations in Keith's memory may be made to the Carter Scholarship Fund at Children at Heart Ministries, 1301 N Mays St, Round Rock, Texas 78664; email: info@cahm.org.