WARSAW—Carroll Cleveland Carter of Warsaw passed Sunday, August 10, 2025.
He was born in Kilmarnock on June 29, 1948, the son of Louise Rich Carter and Herbert O’Neal Carter.
He joined the Calvary Baptist Church family in Kilmarnock and was baptized at an early age. Carroll received his formal education in the Northumberland County Public School System and graduated from Central High School.
After graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served on active duty from September 26, 1969, to December 7, 1971. He then served on reserve duty until December 8, 1974. He was honorably discharged and received the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal & Bronze Star Attachment (Quadruple), Vietnam Campaign Medal, Sharpshooter Ml 4, Good Conduct Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation and two Overseas Bars. In addition, Carroll received the USASTRATCOM 29th Signal Group Award.
After returning home, Carroll attended the U.S. Army Communications School in Fort Gordon, Ga., to become a communications specialist. He spent a year studying at Hampton Institute in Hampton. As the call of God became stronger, he studied at the Moody Bible Institute – Bible Training, Chicago, Ill., earned a bachelor’s of divinity and a master’s of divinity degree from National Theological Seminary and College in Baltimore, Md., studied at Rhema Bible School – Bible Training in Tulsa, Okla., and received a Doctor of Therapeutic Counseling and Master of Christian Counseling Degree from Chesapeake Bible Seminary in Ridgely, Md. Throughout his working career, he has earned numerous certifications from the various career paths with which God blessed him.
Carroll also worked for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Washington, D.C., as a postal policeman. With his move to Suitland, Md., God blessed his obedience with New Life Baptist Church. Cornerstone Christian Center was established in Columbia, Md. Next was a move to Raleigh, N.C., where God established him as an apostle and Strait Gate Christion Center was birthed. He worked in the Wake County Public School System in Raleigh as a behavioral education and health teacher.
He moved to Warsaw and worked for the Virginia Department of Corrections as a counselor. This is where Friends of God Worship Center was established along with the outreach church without walls, CMC Worldwide Ministries Inc. He retired from full-time employment as a counselor and worked part-time as a chaplain at Haynesville Correctional Center until his health began to fail.
He started over 18 churches from the Midwest to the East Coast, including the Kingdom of God in Warsaw, as well as ministering to the unchurched and inmate population in the Virginia correctional system.
Carroll was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Mazie and Robert Rich and paternal grandparents, Amelia and Hubbard Carter; his parents, Louise Rich Carter and Herbert O’Neal Carter; his sister, Aretha Carter Thomas; and a grandson, Christian Lucas.
Carroll leaves to cherish his memory, his wife, Marilyn Thompson Carter; daughters, Trisha Carter-Lucas and Tiffany R. Hackett; grandchildren, Kendra Lucas, Donnovan Lucas, Courtney Lucas, Sydney Lucas, Jordan Betz, Daryl Fisher-Hackett, Zoe Betz, Eli Betz, and Ean Betz; brothers, Leroy Carter, Gilbert Carter, Stanley Carter, Wayne Carter, Steve Carter, Dean Carter, Darryl Carter; sisters, Sheree’ Moorer and Kathy Thompson; and a host of aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family and friends.
A service was held Saturday, August 23, at Community’s Christian Church in Warsaw. Interment with military honors followed at Calvary Memorial Cemetery, Kilmarnock.
