Carter reflects on life

July 07, 2009 11:29 pm

— VALDOSTA — G. Robert Carter speaks in a soft voice, but his words carry weight.
Maybe he learned that a soft answer turneth away wrath like Jesus said.
At 85 years old, Carter has reached that stage in life at which it’s easier to see the patterns in his experiences, when wisdom traditionally arrives if it’s ever going to.
Carter was born on July 8, 1924, in Taylor County, Fla., where his father met his mother. When he was 6 months old, his father moved back to Lowndes County.
The oldest of three brothers, he graduated from Naylor High School in 1941. He was valedictorian of his high school class and received a small scholarship to the University of Georgia but decided to stay in Clyattville and farm instead. He said he was shy as a young man and liked the low profile farming afforded.
Before turning farmer, he said he worked cropping tobacco for $1 a day. Carter said he remembers the Depression well.
“Back then, when a rabbit crossed the road, there were three or four men chasing him,” he said.
He was drafted in 1944, the same year he married his high school sweetheart, Katie Ruth Sego Carter. Carter served with the American Infantry Division in the Philippine Islands during World War II. He was also stationed in Yokohama, Japan, with the 519th MP Battalion Occupational Forces until the end of the war. His youngest brother was killed while serving in Korea, which he said grieved his parents as long as they lived. His other brother served in the U.S. Navy and later retired from Owens Illinois Paper Mill.
After the war, Carter went back to farming. He said his tobacco crop did very poorly one year. He had heard the Valdosta Police Department was paying $200 a month, so he applied. Police Chief Wilbur Perkerson hired him on Aug. 7, 1952, at $175 per month. He said it took him six months before he started earning the full $200. He graduated from the FBI Academy under J. Edgar Hoover.
Carter served with the Valdosta Police Department until he was elected Lowndes County Sheriff in April of 1975. He was reelected in 1976, 1980, 1984, and 1988. After 17 years as sheriff, he lost his reelection bid to Sheriff Ashley Paulk in 1992. Paulk said he was fortunate to follow Carter as sheriff because he had left the department in such good condition.
Carter served on the State Board of Corrections for 12 years, eight under Gov. Joe Frank Harris and four under Zell Miller.
“I learned some things from being sheriff about dealing with people,” he said. “Some of them would call me and say, ‘Sheriff, I’ve got to talk to you. I’ve got a problem.’ Pretty soon they’d come in and sit down and talk to me for a while then get up and thank me for helping them, and all I had to do was listen.”
In 2000, Carter won the District III seat on the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners and has served in that post ever since. He said one of his main goals as a county commissioner has been to make sure the county lives within its means. His current term is set to expire in December of 2010, after which he doesn’t plan to run again.
“I’ve decided I’m a public servant, not a politician,” he said. “I never did believe in promising something I knew darn well I couldn’t deliver.”
Much has been accomplished during Carter’s time on the county commission. Completing the Unified Land Development Regulations, enlarging the Lowndes County Jail, funding and beginning construction on the Emergency Operations Center and the new courthouse and administrative wing are a few he said he’s pleased to have had a hand in.
Carter still lives in Clyattville on the 114-acre farm he inherited from his parents. He said he has made a few improvements to the house since moving there in 1941. He lost his wife of 65 years this past April. Together, they raised three daughters, and he now has eight grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Carter said it’s bittersweet reaching the end of a long career that he’s enjoyed. His immediate plans for the future are to complete his term on the county commission. He said at his age he doesn’t plan too far in advance, but there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer and stay involved in the community.

Photos

Paul Leavy | The Valdosta Daily Times