CURTIS & IRENE CARTER

Across the Fence 



By Arvord Abernethy 

I had heard that a new family had moved into the Boyd house in the 800 block of East White, so I dropped by Saturday afternoon and there I met Curtis and Irene Carter and had a nice visit with them. 

The Carters have just moved here from Hamlin, Texas, where they had lived for a great number of years. Curtis was with the Celotex Company there for 39 years, a company which makes wallboard, which we often call sheetrock. Curtis said that sheetrock was a dirty word to the Celotex Company as “Sheetrock” is the trademark name of the product put out by their competitor, the U. S. Gypsum people. 

The Carter’s have three children; one daughter lives in Waco, and another lives in Houston where she teaches. Their son lives in Columbus where he works for the Shell Oil Company. Each child has some children, so it should not be hard to guess why the Carters moved down this way when they retired. 

Curtis told me why they chose Hamilton to be their retirement home even before I got to ask him. It is a story that I have heard several times before and one that I am proud of. He said that would often stop in Hamilton to buy gas or something and had always found the people to be very friendly, and that they found the town to be neat and attractive. And they didn’t want to go farther on southeast on account of the humidity. 

In our conversation, I mentioned that I had been laying some rock that morning and that struck a very responsive chord with him. He had done some rock work before he started work with Celotex and also did some on the side while working for them. I invited him up to see what I had been doing, but I wonder if I did the right thing, as my work certainly isn’t professional. 

The Carters are Baptist and are already attending services.

Shared by Roy Ables

ACROSS THE FENCE