Agnes Bertha Copeland Carter

Graveside services for Mrs. Agnes Copeland Carter will begin at 11:30 am Monday, December 21, 2020 at Meridian Memorial Park Cemetery with Reverend Jimmy C. Taylor, Sr. officiating. Interment will follow graveside rites. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.

Mrs. Carter, 100, of Meridian passed away Wednesday, December 16, 2020 at Bedford Care Center of Meridian.

Agnes Bertha Copeland was born in Lux MS on April 8, 1920.  She was the first child born to James Edward Copeland and Willie B Tolar Copeland.  Her father was a farmer who grew cotton, corn, and sugarcane, and in the fall made sorghum syrup.  Agnes said James Copeland was a wonderful daddy who got up early and worked hard every day. She often wondered where her parents got her name, and never particularly liked her middle name!  Agnes was the oldest of four children, followed by her brother Artis and younger sisters Mildred and Mary Alice.

Growing up on a family farm in Lux, Mississippi, Agnes said it was understood that you had to milk the cows first thing every morning so that you had fresh milk for breakfast!  When she was little her chores included hoeing the vegetable plants, and no matter how old she was there were always chores to do.  Her mother would take Agnes and the younger children into the fields after the cotton pickers were through and collect the cotton bolls left on the plants to use for pillows and even a mattress that her children and grandchildren slept on for many years.   After chores Agnes spent her free time playing in her treehouse and the hayloft.  She remembered one time she dug a tunnel into the cotton…and almost got stuck!  At night she loved to read books and lay out in the yard gazing at the stars.

As a teenager, after chores she would meet with her friends to talk and sing songs.  She was 14 and in the 8th grade when she fell in love with Lamar Carter, a boy from Mozelle and one year ahead of her in school.  Lamar graduated from Mozelle HS in 1937, and Agnes graduated the following year 1938.  Her favorite subject in high school was Math!  Agnes followed Lamar to Jones Jr College where each completed 2 years of college, and where she enjoyed watching Lamar play football!

Agnes had promised her mother that she would not get married until she was 21 years old (her mother was married at 13 and was only 16 years old when Agnes was born).  So after Jones Jr College she took a job as a telephone operator in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and on April 20, 1941, just twelve days after she turned 21, she married Lamar Carter.  Later she would show her children their wedding picture and describe her hat that had a bird and a big feather on it.  To her children she explained why she loved Lamar so much like this:  because if he said he would do something, he did it; because he had a beautiful smile; and because he was so handsome!  Lamar passed on in 2011 at 92 years of age, and Agnes often said that he had been her husband for more than 69 years, but he was he boyfriend for 76 years ever since the 8th grade.

Daughter Sandra Joyce Carter was born December 22, 1941, weighing just a little over 5 lbs and a few weeks early because no one told Agnes she shouldn’t push off their Model A when she was eight months pregnant!  She remembered that Sandy was so tiny that she slept in a box next to the stove to keep her warm.  After Pearl Harbor was bombed, Lamar joined the army and Agnes became an army wife.  Agnes and Lamar had two sons during WW2: Thomas Lamar Carter on May 8, 1943, and Danny Bruce Carter on November 15, 1944.

After WW2 Lamar and Agnes moved to Meridian MS where Lamar began a 41 year career with Mississippi Power Company.  They bought a house at 1321 46th Avenue and Agnes raised her children, vegetables in the garden and flowers everywhere!  They welcomed daughter Deborah Kay Carter on June 12, 1950, and three years later a third daughter Mary Ann Carter on October 4, 1953.  Agnes also took time for Order of the Eastern Star and Garden Club.

Agnes and Lamar made in clear to all their children that they were expected to graduate from college and were supportive at every level.  All the “Carter Kids” attended Chalk Elementary, Kate Griffin Jr High, Meridian HS and Meridian Jr College.  Sandra graduated from Millsaps College and went on to teach Elementary school and French.  Tommy and Danny graduated from Mississippi State with degrees in Aerospace Engineering: Tom worked with the space industry in Huntsville, Florida and Los Alamos, and Danny worked with jets at Lockheed Engineering.  Debbie graduated with a BS and MS degree from Jacksonville State in Secondary Education and taught high school mathematics, and Mary Ann finished her Registered Nursing degree at Meridian Community College and worked as an Operating Room Nurse.  Agnes and Lamar considered their children their biggest asset.

The Carter family were loyal members of Fifth Street Methodist Church through the years, active in every aspect of the church.  Agnes helped feed the youth group, volunteered in the kitchen and was a member of Methodist Women.  She encouraged all her children to sing in Youth Choir.  When the boys were old enough, Lamar started a Boy Scout Troop that met at the church, and when her younger daughters expressed interest, Agnes began a Brownie Troop that met in the basement of the church just like the boys!  In 1968 both Agnes and Lamar took their daughters’ Girl Scout Troop to the Ouachita Ramble, a national Girl Scout event in Arkansas.

Agnes was a wonderful cook and was famous for her pecan pies that were made with pecans from her huge trees in their yard.  In later years Agnes would ride around the yard in her golf cart and use her “slinky-on-a-pole-pecan-picker-upper” to gather her pecans and dump them in a bucket at her feet.  Agnes was also a wonderful seamstress and made most all of the clothes for herself and her girls…including wedding dresses for all three daughters.  In the late 50’s Agnes made Debbie’s dance recital costume.  In 1960 she made Debbie and Mary Ann colonial dresses for Meridian’s Centennial.  Debbie remembers that during her senior year teas, she only had to show her Mom a dress in Seventeen magazine and she would copy it for Debbie to wear to her next tea!

The Carter house on 46th Avenue was a gathering hub for neighborhood children.  Danny remembers that in the early 50’s Pop put up a train track that ran in a circle in the yard, and Mom always had snacks for the kids.  The Carter House was a wonderful place to grow up, and the reason was the love shared by Agnes and Lamar.

In the mid 60’s with the older children headed off on their own after college, and the younger teenage daughters remarkably busy in their activities at school, church and Girl Scouts, Agnes entered the work force again, joining the Sears Tool Department family. In the late 60’s she changed jobs and began a new career as an instructor in the Adult Education Department at Meridian Junior College.  Agnes enjoyed helping her students, and later we found that she had quietly completed her college degree!  Both Agnes and Lamar retired in the mid 80’s and kept busy with home projects and the city Bowling League.  They also took trips with a bus tour group and were highly active grandparents.

Thanksgiving was Agnes’ favorite holiday, and yearly 30-40 would show up for Grandmother’s dressing and Pecan Pies.  Our last Thanksgiving with Grandmother Agnes was 2019 when about 30 mostly young Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren took over the front yard at her nursing home.

Agnes and Lamar had a wonderful life together and left beautiful memories for each and every member of their family.  Together they now walk hand in hand on the streets of gold and have earned every jewel in their crowns.

Mrs. Agnes is survived by her children Sandra Carter Reaves, Tom Carter (Mary), Danny Carter (Linda), Deborah Carter Taylor (Jimmy), and Mary Ann Carter Ellis (Mike). Grandchildren Greg Carter, Heath Carter, Bob Carter (Laurie), Valerie Reaves Hodge, Chuck Reaves (Nicci), Laura Taylor Isaacs, Kathy Carter, Jimbo Taylor (Christy), Erin Ellis Koons (Kevin), Jason Taylor (Amber), Angela Ellis, Shelley Carter Pattillo (Tim), and Ciara Carter. Great grandchildren Corey Rigdon, Seth Koons (Sarah), Blake Koons (Bailey), Rachel Reaves, Jenaleigh Ellis, Ella Carter, Tanner Isaacs, Lauren Brogan, Meghan Reaves, Sam Carter, Owen Hodge, Harley Koons, Alexis Koons, Jordan Hodge, Trinity Taylor, Eli Taylor, Christian Taylor, and Luna Grace Ellis; and one great-great grandchild Eva Koons as well as a host of nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Carter is preceded in death Husband Lamar Harrison Carter; parents James Edward Copeland and Willie B Tolar Copeland; brother Artis Copeland (Barbara); sisters Mildred Copeland (Clyde) and Mary Alice Copeland Skogmo (Johnny) and granddaughter Jennifer Ellis Rigdon.

The family request memorials be made as donation to Druid Hills United Methodist Church in lieu of flowers.

Family and friends may sign the online guestbook at robertbarhffh.com.