by Dr. George Stocking
It is with sadness that we report the death of Robert D. Carter (1920-2006), BVA Administrative Director and Acting Executive Director from 1971 to 1975.
Bob Carter was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he graduated from high school. He then worked at a bank until he enlisted in the Air Force as World War II began. He was assigned to a fighter unit in England and Europe, for which he received the Bronze Star. Following discharge in 1945, he used the GI Bill to attend the University of Virginia. While there, he met Patricia Williams, whom he married in 1947. Upon graduation in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Affairs, he joined the CIA as a financial analyst.
During the next 20 years, Bob and Pat served around the world in Switzerland, Japan, and Hong Kong, with stints in Washington, DC, in between. In early 1971, he retired from the CIA. At that time, Jack Street, BVA’s Administrative Director for many years, was leaving to go into real estate. Former BVA National President James Hyde, then an official within the federal Office of Management and Budget, recruited Bob from a group of retiring Federal employees to be Jack Street's replacement.
At the time Bob Carter became Administrative Director, BVA could not afford an Executive Director and had only 2.5 employees: an Administrative Director, a Secretary, and a half-time Membership Clerk.
Although Bob worked for BVA for only four and a half years, he witnessed and administered some of the most drastic changes in BVA history. In 1971, for example, BVA's budget was $50,000, half of which came from the Women Bowlers Legion. In Fiscal Year 2006, the general fund budget was more than $1.5 million.
Also in 1971, BVA occupied two rooms in an office building in northwest Washington. There were 13 regional groups and about 1,000 members. Compare those figures to the 2006 luxuries of owning an entire building in a rejuvenated Chinatown, the existence of 53 regional groups, and a membership of 10,600. At that time as well, the Administrative Director managed BVA’s operations, put together the BVA Bulletin, managed a modest fund raiser through the National Rifle Association selling shooting glasses to new NRA members, wrote testimony for Congress, coordinated regional group activities, and represented BVA before VA and other government agencies.
One of Bob's first duties was to begin planning the BVA 26th National Convention to be held in Miami Beach that summer. I was the Chairman of that convention and met Bob by telephone shortly after he started at BVA. At that time, the convention schedule and speakers were arranged in advance, but there was no pre-registration. Bob and Pat, along with two part-time clerks from the convention bureau, handled everything.
Although Pat never worked for BVA, she volunteered many, many hours to get things done.
At the aforementioned convention, BVA finalized a plan to send a proposal to VA to fund a Field Service Program (FSP). It was Bob's responsibility to draft the proposal with the cooperation of the FSP Committee. Bob handled the negotiations with VA and, in late 1972, BVA was granted funding to start the program. In early 1973, FSP began with a Director, three Representatives, and a Secretary. Bob added the administrative part of the program to his other duties.
During the following year, Bob assisted the FSP Director in preparing a proposal to continue the FSP contract and add another FSP Representative. At the same time, Bob and the Director prepared a proposal to the Department of Labor (DOL) for an Outreach Employment Program (OEP). By the time the BVA 29th National Convention in Denver rolled around in 1974, BVA had been notified that VA would extend the program another year with an additional Representative. DOL also approved our proposal for an OEP consisting of four staff members. The administrative duties for the OEP were added to Bob’s responsibilities.
Although the contracts with VA and DOL funded FSP and OEP, the funding was after the fact. BVA had to fund the costs and submit vouchers for reimbursement. Generally, it took five or more months to obtain the reimbursements, and it soon became apparent that BVA needed an additional source of funding.
Bruce Eberle and Associates approached BVA with a proposal to set up a direct mail fund raising program. Bob was responsible for coordinating the drafting of the contract with Eberle. Since BVA did not have the "up front" funds to start the direct mail program, a "no risk" contract was negotiated in mid-1974. Eberle provided the initial funding with all proceeds going to a restricted BVA account.
The direct mail program started in late 1974. During the first year, BVA was unable to use the funds as intended because they were needed to pay off the project’s expenses and fund its continuation. It was not until late 1975 that BVA had complete access to the direct mail receipts.
In addition to all of the aforementioned duties, Bob also worked with the Membership Committee in handling the National Headquarters’ responsibility for the membership drives. He also worked with the District Directors to increase the number of regional groups. As a result, BVA’s membership increased more than 100 percent (more than 2,000 members) and the number of regional groups increased 40 percent. During the same period, BVA staff increased from 2.5 to 14.
Although the seeds for BVA's present financial stability were planted during Bob’s time with us, we were, financially speaking, still living day-to-day in the spring of 1975. About that time, one of Bob's best friends suffered a severe heart attack due to overwork. Bob saw the handwriting on the wall.
The $25,000 from the women bowlers always came in July. In June, the end of BVA's 1975 fiscal year, there was insufficient money in our checking account to cover the payroll. Consequently, Bob had to take money out of his personal savings account to meet the payroll. During his time with BVA, Bob worked thousands of hours of unpaid overtime, leaving him feeling burned out. With the approach of autumn, he notified the BVA Board of Directors that he would leave us once a replacement could be recruited. During the next several months, he helped locate Sumner “Tut” Vale to replace him and then trained Tut before leaving for good in December.
In subsequent years, Bob had several jobs. He worked longest as an office manager for a real estate company. Although Bob left BVA employment, he remained loyal to our organization. He was on the BVA National Advisory Council for 20 years. During that time, he attended the BVA mid-winter Board meetings in Washington. After that, he kept up with the Association through the Bulletin and through personal contact with the members.
Bob was a quiet, unassuming individual who did not toot his own horn but got the job done. BVA has been fortunate, over the years, to have a small number of outstanding individuals work for us. These individuals have helped us achieve our goals and objectives as we try to serve America's blinded veterans in the best way possible. Bob was one of the few individuals who appeared on the BVA scene when the organization was very small and just beginning its climb to its present status.
Every blinded veteran who has been a beneficiary of the work of BVA owes an expression of thanks to Bob Carter for a job well done. Those of us who knew him personally have suffered the loss of a colleague and a great friend. We will miss him.
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