Obituary of Marjorie-Dargan Carter

CARTER, Marjorie Dargan 92, died Dec. 1, 2007, in St. Petersburg. Mrs. Carter was born in Chicago, July 31, 1915, daughter of Esterel Vere Dargan, and Edwin Preston Dargan, professor of French at the University of Chicago. Mrs. Carter attended the Laboratory Schools of the University of Chicago, then earned her BFA at the Art Institute of Chicago, specializing in industrial design. In 1939, she married Albert Howard Carter Jr., who completed his Ph.D. in English at the University of Chicago. The young couple moved to Washington, DC, where Carter, a civilian attached to the Army Signal Corps, worked as a codebreaker. They had two children during the war years. During the next two years, Carter was a research scholar at the Folger Shakespeare Library. In 1947, the couple moved to Fayetteville, AR, where Carter was a professor of English at the University of Arkansas. Mrs. Carter raised her children, volunteered as a Gray Lady in hospitals, tutored French, and earned a master's degree in English from the UA. In 1960, the family moved to St. Petersburg, where Carter was founding faculty for Florida Presbyterian College, later Eckerd College. Mrs. Carter volunteered with Meals on Wheels, Operation Attack, and PERC. Mrs. Carter was a life-long artist, working in a variety of media: water color, calligraphy, carved wood, sumi-e, and woven palm leaves. She studied calligraphy with Margaret Rigg and was active in Scribes and SLAWS (Southern Ladies Artists and Writers Society.) She also taught at Gibbs High School; worked at Eckerd College; and finished her working life as an assistant librarian, St. Petersburg Public Library. Mrs. Carter was a member of Maximo Presbyterian Church. In 1995, she moved to Westminster Suncoast, where she volunteered in the library. Marjorie was preceded in death by her husband, who died in 1970. She is survived by two children, Avise Elizabeth Nissen, Mount Rainier, MD, and Albert Howard Carter III, Chapel Hill, NC; two grandchildren, Rebecca Alice Carter, Los Angeles, CA, and Martin Stuart, Burnsville, MN; and three great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are through the National Cremation Society. A Memorial Service will follow in January. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Maximo Presbyterian Church. National Cremation Society Clearwater, FL/536-0494