Her Life, Her Love, Her Legacy
In Her Own Words
“Saints, I lived to live again. He has prepared me in these years to meet Him in the heavenly realm. With purpose and praise, I have journeyed through life trying to be a blessing where I could, when I could.”
God blessed me to be the daughter of James and Ruth Carter. It did not dawn on me until very recently that I was the middle child. James Edward (Doris), Maurice, who preceded me in death, Glenda Jean, and Ted are my siblings. Family is everything.
God blessed me with two children, Gerald (Dawn) and Keré Yvonne, and then He placed Roberta in my life as my third. These three gave me eight hearts that I love: Dominique, Essence (Purcell), Tyler, Alandria, Mariah, Gerald II, Cedrick Jr., and Kaiya. I also was entrusted with many godchildren. These heartbeats remain my reasons to do my best at everything possible.
Educated in the Buffalo Public School System and at the Buffalo State University, I earned the degrees that qualified me to become a certified English Language Arts teacher. I spent five awesome years honing my gift at the Diocesan Educational Campus (DEC) and thirty years in the Buffalo Public Schools, with twenty-seven and a half years spent at West Hertel Academy teaching 7th grade English. It was a joy teaching the scholars who entered my doors. I expected nothing but my scholars’ best and would not allow myself to give anything but my best.
And Then, We Take Up the Pen…
These are the words she left us—her story, begun in her own hand and told in her own voice. And so, where her pen rested, her family—lovingly take it up to tell the rest of her story.
To know her was to know what she loved: God, her family, her church—Calvary CME Church—teaching, playing the piano and singing. These were not simply parts of her life; they were woven together as expressions of her faith and her calling.
Education was more than a profession for her; it was a calling. As a dedicated public-school educator and Christian educator, she devoted her life to teaching, nurturing, encouraging, and shaping generations of children and adults. Her Christian education ministry extended beyond the walls of Calvary and across denominational lines. She believed in helping people know God’s Word, grow in faith, and discover the gifts God had placed within them. Whether in a school classroom, a church classroom, or the wider ecumenical community, she understood teaching as a sacred opportunity to plant seeds that would continue to bear fruit.
Her love for God was the foundation of her life. Her faith shaped the way she lived, served, taught, sang, loved her family, and met life’s challenges. Calvary CME Church was home. It was where her faith was born nurtured under the leadership of the late Rev. Dr. Henry R. Delaney. Calvary was where she worshiped and served, where she taught and sang, and where she poured her gifts into generations of God’s people. She loved Calvary deeply and gave herself freely to its ministry.
She was also a gifted psalmist. If she was asked to sing, she sang—at worship services, funerals, celebrations, community gatherings, and wherever her gift was needed. She was old school in the best sense: she did not believe in charging people to use a gift she knew had been given to her by God. She believed that gift was entrusted to her to be used wisely, faithfully, and for God’s glory.
At one point, the demands of teaching and singing began to strain her vocal cords, and doctors warned that she could lose her voice. She attended therapy a few times but ultimately chose to place her trust fully in God to sustain the gift He had given her. And she kept singing—faithfully.
Her ministry in music reached throughout the community. In addition to singing with her church choir, she sang with numerous community choirs, was a founding member of the Voices of Methodism, City-Wide Revival Choir and The Gospel Music Workshop of America. Her love for music was inseparable from her love for ministry.
Her heart was especially tender toward children. At Calvary CME Church, she revived the Viola Hadley Sunbeam Children’s Choir, creating a place for another generation to discover their voices, develop their gifts, and learn to minister through song. Alongside Martha Connor, she co-founded Come On Children Let’s Sing, a ministry that has continued for more than twenty years. Through these ministries, she did more than teach children to sing; she taught them that their voices mattered and that their gifts could be offered to God.
She taught with her mind, served with her heart, and praised God with her voice. She educated minds, nurtured faith, raised voices, and lifted her own voice in praise. Whether standing before scholars in a classroom, teaching God’s Word, directing children, singing with a choir, or simply answering the call, “Will you sing?” she understood that a gift from God was meant to be used in service to God and others.
“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22–23