Azalee Carter

Azalee Carter — wife, mother, grandmother, sister, niece, aunt, teacher, Marine, lifelong Methodist, clothing designer, brewer of incredible iced tea, and lover of sweets and good southern food — passed away on Thursday, October 11, 2018. She was 83. Azalee, known as Azzie or Lee, was born Azalee Hoyle in the North Carolina county of Burke on September 20, 1935 to Loy and Ruth Hoyle. Shortly after graduating from Valdese (NC) High School in 1953, in the aftermath of World War II, Azzie left small-town life to find good work. It led her to the military. And the love of her life. William “Bill” Carter passed her every day in the mess hall at the United States Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Paris Island, South Carolina. But they didn’t meet until she completed her typist and clerical training and was assigned to Bill’s company. Azzie was reassigned to Washington DC, but the pair found ways to visit each other during her stints further north. She helped with the design of a new line of Marine uniforms at the Capitol. She later moved to the Pentagon for typing and clerical work, and served as a hostess at the Iwo Jima National Monument Dedication on November 10, 1954, in Arlington Ridge Park in Virginia. Azzie and Bill married in June of 1955, and she left the military one month later. In their 63 years of marriage, they were never separated longer than the 1-1/2 weeks in 1962 when Bill was deployed on the USS Independence during the Cuban Missile Crisis. His love for her is palpable and enduring. But he described her typing as “terrible.” The military kept them moving. New Orleans; Shreveport, LA; Jacksonville, NC. But when Bill and Azzie’s daughter, Sandra, was born in 1956, the trio soon settled in Mesquite, Texas. Will, their son, came along 17 years later in 1973. When she first moved to Mesquite, Azzie worked at a hospital. But the early morning hours demanded of nurses were not her cup of iced tea. She found her calling as a teacher. Her longtime home was in special education classrooms, where she brought warmth and compassion and mined stories she lovingly passed on to her friends and family. Azzie’s sharp eye for words and grammar also served her well as she reviewed and edited text books for the state of Texas. She left fingerprints throughout the community in which she raised her children. She was a drill team sponsor, Cub Scout den mother, PTA chair, and frequent leader of church initiatives. Her creativity knew no bounds. She would craft outfits for her daughter by picking apart craft store patterns, peruse magazines for ideas, and obsess over the paints and dcor that made her house a home. Azzie and Bill moved to Sunnyvale in the 1980s. Their home was frequently visited by grandchildren, whom she spoiled with sausage gravy biscuits, delicious potato casserole, Christmas presents and cakes. Azzie somewhat retired in the 1990s but continued to work as a substitute teacher until 2015. From then on, declining health left her mostly confined to her home. She passed on in her home, with Bill holding her hand as a prayer was said. She leaves behind her loving husband; sisters Gail Ayers and Pat Lowman; foster siblings John Hoyle, Mick Hoyle and Tammy Rector; children Sandra Wattles and Will Carter; and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at New Hope Funeral Home, 500 U.S. Hwy. 80 in Sunnyvale, on Monday, October 15, at 2 pm.