Joseph Philip Carter, RIP

My younger brother (by two years) passed away yesterday evening after a year-long battle with cancer. He had beaten prostate cancer, but was later afflicted with squamous cell cancer that started in his cheek and worked its way into his jaw. He received treatment, up to and including surgery, but the cancer cells managed to get into his lymph nodes, and thence to his lungs and eventually his brain. Mrs. Paco and I visited him a few weeks ago, and he was in an extremely weakened state; however, he maintained a fighting spirit and good humor, and when the end came, he went easy.

Although he was a bit of a renegade in his youth, Bro Paco joined the USMC straight out of high school.  After his hitch was up, he worked for awhile in the family business (the Alcart garbage company - "Satisfaction guaranteed or double your trash back"), and went on to found a company that specialized in selling mulch, stone and other landscaping materials. He joined the North Carolina National Guard when he was in his late 30s, and had to actually lobby to be sent to Iraq during the first Gulf War, where he served in the personal security detail of his unit's commanding general, coming under fire numerous times, and surviving an IED that, fortunately, had been poorly positioned, resulting in an explosion that knocked the vehicle on its side but resulted in no severe casualties.

He was loyal to God, country and, above all, his family. God rest his soul, and console his family and many friends.

Always ready for anything!