Funeral services for Margaret Ruth Long Carter, age 90, of Fayetteville will be conducted at 2pm on Saturday, September 19, 2020 at Fayetteville First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Tommy Vann officiating. Burial will follow in Carter Hills Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be Friday, September 18, 2020 from 5pm until 7pm at Higgins Funeral Home.
Mrs. Carter passed away on September 16, 2020 at NHC Maury Regional in Columbia, Tenn. She was born in Jackson, Tenn., to the late Oddest Herman and Julia Mae Goff Long on February 24, 1930.
A member of the Fayetteville City School Board from 1986 to 2002, she was a diligent advocate of better education for the students of Fayetteville City Schools. Mrs. Carter was a 50-plus-year member of the Alpha Kappa Club and a former member of the Lincoln Medical Center Auxiliary. She also enjoyed needlepoint, petit point and cross stitch and was a member of the Embroiders Guild of America. An avid bridge player, she continued to play in her club until the onset of COVID-19 guidelines early this year.
Mrs. Carter was a faithful member of the Fayetteville First United Methodist, where over the years she was active and served on many committees. She graduated from the University of Tennessee and in 1952 moved to Fayetteville when she married Lewis Franklin Carter. They would be married 31 years. Lewis passed away in 1983. After moving to Fayetteville, Mrs. Carter served as an assistant Home Demonstration agent for several years, leaving her job to become a mother and full-time homemaker. She was dedicated to her children and enjoyed taking care of her family and friends. She would later open her own gift shop, Potpourri, and work at P. Fitz Gifts for several years.
Margaret is survived by her daughters, Julia (Butch) West of Columbia and Bonnie Carter Hereford of Fayetteville, grandsons, Carter Alexander West and William Campbell West of Nashville, and sister, Sarah Long Hale of Athens, Ala. In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Anna Carter Reilly, who passed away in 1995, and her son-in-law, James S. Hereford, Jr., who passed in 2012.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Fayetteville United Methodist Church Building Fund, 200 Elk Avenue, North, Fayetteville, TN 37334.
Higgins Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Ms. Margaret Ruth Long Carter.