Franklin Wood Carter:
CLASS OF 1951
Bakersfield High SchoolClass of 1951
Bakersfield, MO
Franklin Wood's Story
Most people I went to school with know I joined the Navy and spent 25 years in the service retiring in 1976. I started in the medical service corp and ultimately became an officer retiring as a Lt. Commander. In my Navy career I had basic in San Diego, specialized training in Emittsburg, Maryland and was stationed in Japan during the Korean War. I was stationed in Alaska when it became a state, then San Diego, Memphis, Camp LeJeune, Bethesda, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Willamsburg, Virginia, Along the way I took college courses and ultimately received a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC. The Navy trained me to become a hospital administrator so after I retired from the Navy I ran the Student Health Service at the Universities of Maryland and Pittsburgh for 22 years. My wife Jane and I retired to The Villages in Florida in 1998. In 2007 we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. Jane passed away in 2008 and I passed away in January, 2018. We have 4 children, Christopher, who is an attorney in Arkansas, Patrick, who predeceased me who was in Food Management for a number of sports team in Maryland and Florida; Michael who is a college instructor in North Carolina and Mary Anne who is now the Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington, DC. My wife and I are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
ABOUT MY FATHER: There is no question that the United States Navy defined my father. Nothing made him more proud than to be a Navy veteran and you could walk into his house and know he was a Navy man. Even though the Navy took up only 25 of his 84 years he attended reunions for various ships he served on as well as various duty stations. The last few years of his life he always had a Navy shirt or hat on.
He did well for a boy from Caulfield, Missouri born during the height of the depression into a house with no electric nor indoor bathroom. He was luckier than most because he always had indoor running water, electric came in 1940 just before World War II although a an indoor bathroom only came to his parents 6 years after he had joined the Navy. My father was proud of where he came from and often spoke of Bakersfield High School in glowing terms. His classmates must have liked him as he was class president all 4 years and played basketball and baseball...Expand for more
. Growing up in a Navy household I rarely saw my father out of uniform so we he retired at age 43 in 1976 his wearing civilian clothes took a long time to get used to. My father believed in a college education and after he received his degrees my mother went back to school and received her Masters and then a PhD. They put all 4 children through college and helped start college funds for 4 their grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
In December, 2012 we discovered my father had dementia and certainly had it for at least a year prior. It is not easy to tell a man who had been on his own and head of his household for 61 years that you cannot drive anymore. And we are moving someone in to help you. Fortunately my brother took up that task for 3 years before he died of cancer in 2016. My brother was the fun one in the family and was always doing something exciting so he just took my father along. They went swimming with Dolphins, hot air ballooning, went to Branson and took in 5 shows, and Navy reunion in 6 days, and family get togethers in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and of course a number of trips to Disney, Seaworld and Universal. Dementia is a horrible situation and frequently my father would start packing things up because he was going to see his mother in Missouri. For a long time he was focused on that even though she had been gone for almost 20 years. On the other hand he became very agreeable to suggestions and ideas--something that was really not part of his previous personality. He was always smiling and laughing. When my brother died we held his Celebration of Life in the Press area of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa 2 months later. We told my Father "Dad you have to get ready" He asked "Why are we going somewhere" "Yes to Pat's celebration of life" "Oh, did he die?". In a way losing a child while you have dementia can be a blessing. My father spent the last 18 months in a nursing home for dementia patients. I think he was the staff's favorite patient. He liked to sit outside and watch the birds and we had a "Comfort Keeper" come in 3 days a week to keep him company and act as our "eyes and ears" to see that he had the best of care. He died in January, 2018 and was buried in July with a full caisson ceremony, 21 gun salute and taps at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
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