John William Carter, 80, a longtime advocate of education, graduated to Heaven, Sunday, July 9, 2017. John entered this life September 27, 1936, and was welcomed, in Tulsa, by his parents, Gladys Duke Carter and John Wesley Carter, and his sister Patricia. John, "Bill", and family settled into West Tulsa, where he graduated from Webster High School in 1954. He attended college at several schools, and enrolled at OU in Spring of 1958. There, he began his lifelong love affair with his wife Jane Richardson Carter. They married on December 27, 1958 in Minnesota. In 1961, John graduated in the first graduating class of Mechanical Engineers, from Tulsa University. John enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1962, and was honorably discharged in December, 1968. John purchased Machine Engineering Company, Inc. in 1976, and successfully operated his business until retiring in 2006. John is survived by Jane, his wife of 58 years, his daughters, Laura Carter of Tulsa, Belinda Haddock and husband Heath, of Colorado, granddaughters Briana and Erica Haddock, his sister Patricia Hildebrand of Missouri, grandson Ronnie Ladigo, with parents Mike & Christine, of Tulsa, sister-in-law Mary and husband Bob Lane, aunt Barbara Carter, 8 nieces and nephews, a large extended family and many friends. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation, in John's memory, to the Webster High School Alumni Foundation Scholarship Fund, The University of Tulsa, or the Parkinson's Foundation of Oklahoma. Services by Fitzgerald Southwood Colonial Chapel, 1:00 p.m. Saturday, July 22, 2017.