Julia Veronica Carter, aged 96, a resident of Oak Ridge for the past 68 years, passed away in her sleep during the night of Saturday, November 8. Emeritus of Oak Ridge assisted living was her residence for the last three-plus years of her life.
Julia, the first of three daughters, most often referred to as Julie, was born on March 2, 1918, in Decatur, Illinois, to Sanford Joseph Thornton and Julia Cain Thornton. A life long Catholic, she graduated from St. Teresa’s parochial high school in 1936, and attended Millikin University, also in Decatur. Julie was the eldest of three sisters. Katherine and Jane, her siblings, preceded her in passing in 2005 and 2012 respectfully.
The tumult of World War II and a job opportunity with the atomic energy work in Oak Ridge brought her to Tennessee in 1946, the one and only relocation in her life. She married Robert Alfred Carter on September 29, 1947, and bore the first of her two children, a son, Charles Sanford Carter in August 1948. Charles’ birth was followed by that of a daughter, Julia Gabrielle Carter, in December 1953. The younger Julia, known as Judy, or Gabby, to some family members, was a special needs child and a lifelong joy to her parents, who were very active in the early days of the Daniel Arthur Education Center and Sheltered Workshop. [Read more…]