Mrs. Mary Jo McWilliams Carter, 88, died Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. The funeral service will be held Sunday at 3 p.m. at the First Christian Church, Florence. The Rev. James Storie and the Rev. Dr. Robert Stegall will officiate. Visitation will be held at the church from 1-3 p.m. Burial will follow in the Florence City Cemetery.
Mrs. Carter is survived by a son, Robert (Bob) and wife, Marsha Carter; daughter, Collins Ledgewood and husband, Alan; grandchildren, Nicolette Payne, Lindsay Colbert, Carter and John Ledgewood, and Grace and Rachel Carter; and seven great-grandchildren; brothers, Robert, George and Walter McWilliams; sister, Martha Ladd; sisters-in-law, Inez and Mary McWilliams; and stepsister, Marjorie Smith.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Andy Lee and Ellen Foster McWilliams; her husband, Miles Jerome Carter Jr.; three brothers, Hubert, Charles and William McWilliams; stepmother, Nila McWilliams; and a daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Kenneth Self.
Mrs. Carter graduated from Cherokee Vocational High School and attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute. She graduated from Florence State College and then Florence State University with a Master of Arts degree. She taught in the Florence City school system for several years and returned to homemaking.
She was a member of the First Christian Church where she served as a Sunday school teacher, choir member, deaconess, elder and chairman of the Administrative Board.
Her many civic interests included being a charter member of Heritage Preservation Inc., Hickory Hills Garden Club, charter member of Turtle Point Yacht and Country Club and its Ladies Association, Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts and Current Book Club. She served as a trustee and secretary of the Maude Lindsey Free Kindergarten Club. She was a member of the D.A.R., Colonial Dames, National Society of Daughters of American Colonists and the U.D.C. She was a member of Florence Golf and Country Club, Tennessee Valley Historical Society, Colbert County Historical Landmarks, a Life Member of the University of North Alabama Alumni Association, Friends of the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, Muscle Shoals Concert Guild, Tennessee Valley Art Association and the Salvation Army Auxiliary.
Mrs. Carter loved music, family gatherings, enjoyed flower gardening, traveling, playing bridge, reading and swimming.
Pallbearers will be John, Chris, Don, Keith, Todd, and Scott McWilliams, Nancy Hughes, and Nina Rushing. Honorary pallbearers will be Bill Batson, Dick Jordan and Richard Moss.
The family would like to thank the staff of Keestone of Florence and Amedisys Health Care and Hospice for their wonderful care.
Steve Chenault and Elkins Funeral Home are assisting the family.
