Ruth Alice Marsh Carter

Ruth Alice Marsh Carter was born to teacher-farmers in the Sutton community of Nevada County on May 17, 1919. She left to be with her savior three days shy of her 93rd birthday on May 14, 2012, at her Little Rock home of 59 years. She passed quietly in the night, reclined in her favorite chair, realizing an eternal reward for a life of devotion to Jesus Christ, hard work and sacrifice. Family and friends knew Ruth Alice as a staunch defender of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, each of whom had no stronger advocate. She was a constant in their lives, her home a storm cellar from which her kids — spanning three generations — could find shelter from life's travails. It could be said that Ruth Alice herself was a force of nature. Living independently until the end, Ruth Alice continued to play an active role in the lives of her kids. She daily tended her large garden behind the Forest Hills home she bought in 1953 after moving to the city from just outside the Rosston community two years earlier. Ruth Alice was a graduate of Prescott High School and the former Draughan School of Business in Little Rock. She was a matriarch, a bookkeeper, a gardener, a conservative, a square dancer, a critical voice when necessary, a shoulder to lean on, a child of Christ. She is preceded in death by her parents, James Evered and Halcyone Wallis Marsh; a daughter, Ruth Ann Hubbs; a brother, William Edward Marsh, and longtime, close companion Bill Shaw, her square dancing partner. Ruth Alice is survived by two sons, Dr. William Jerry Carter (Phyllis) of Little Rock and Dr. James Mark Carter (Wanda) of Russellville; a brother, Dr. James Wallis Marsh (La Donna) of Warren; 10 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren with another on the way. Grandmother is missed more than she could ever realize, and the 4300 block of Maryland Avenue will never be the same, nor will the family and friends who were lucky enough to have her in their lives. Funeral services will be 10 a.m., Friday in the chapel of Griffin Leggett Healey & Roth, 5800 West 12th Street, with Rev. Timothy L. Carter and Rev. Greg S. Sykes officiating. Interment will follow at 3 p.m., Friday at Mt. Olive Cemetery in Willisville, Ark. Visitation will be Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Griffin Leggett Healey & Roth, 501-661-9111. Ms. Carter's online guestbook is available at www.griffinleggetthealeyroth.com.