Robert Ford Carter was one of those noble American boys who gave their lives in patriotic endeavor to serve their country. He never was actually in the service, but to the last moment before he was stricken with the disease that took his life, he was working and sacrificing his health in an unsuccessful endeavor to be accepted. No sacrifice was too great for him; had it been, he might have paused in his efforts long enough to give a thought to his physical needs, and thus preserve for the nation a useful life and a noble character. Robert was born in Verdi, Washoe County, Nevada, May 21st, 1896, a son of Charles R. and Jessie G. Carter, now residents of 101 Ralston Street, Reno, Nevada, and a brother of Charles V. and Marcia R. Carter, both of whom live with their parents. He moved to Reno with his parents when four years of age; attending the Reno public schools, graduating from Reno High School in 1916, and entering the University as a member of the 1920 class of electrical engineering. He was a member of the Delta Sigma and Phi Delta Tau fraternities. From early childhood he became deeply interested in electricity (both parents were formerly telegraph operators) and at about the age of ten years began the systematic study of that subject, reading every book and magazine article on the subject that he could procure. With the assistance of a boy friend he built and set up the first set of amateur radio telegraph instruments in Reno and before the war was declared, was picking up wireless messages from San Diego to Vancouver and from ships on the Pacific.

When war was declared he immediately offered his services as radio operator on the cruiser Huntington, then outfitting at Mare Island. On account of a slight defect of vision his application was not accepted. He then commenced treatment with an eye specialist in the hope of overcoming the objection, and afterwards offered his services to every recruiting officer who came to Reno, in whatever branch of the service, but without success. He then accepted employment with the Truckee River General Electric Company as operator at Fleish and later at Farad Station. In January, 1918, he resigned and returned to Reno to resume treatment with another eye specialist, and on February 19, 1918, he finally succeeded in passing the examination for admittance to the U. S. Navy. He left that night for Sacramento where he was to take a final examination. When he arrived there it was cloudy and he again failed, and was given transportation back to Reno; but, nothing daunted, he paid his fare to San Francisco where he again offered his services to the Navy and the Naval Reserve but failed to pass the examinations. He was particularly desirous of getting into the Navy because he thought the opportunity for continuing his electrical studies would be better there than in other branches of the service. He told his father before leaving Reno that he had memorized the test card and that if the same card was in use in Sacramento he would surely pass. The day following his rejection by the Naval Reserve he was stricken down with cerebro spinal meningitis and remained in a semi-conscious condition four days before any of his friends knew of it. His father reached him on the fifth day and took him to the French hospital, where he rallied and for a time great hopes were held for his recovery, but he had gone too long without proper medical treatment and passed away March 27, 1918. He was a member of the Reno Y. M. C. A. and of the Reno Baptist Church. One of his last acts before leaving Reno was to make a contribution to the building fund of the new church then nearing completion. After he apparently commenced to get better he expressed the hope that he would be able to return to Reno for the formal opening of the new church building which was to take place Easter morning, March 31st. Instead his funeral was held from the new church building on that Easter day, conducted by his beloved pastor, Rev. Brewster Adams, and attended by more than six hundred sorrowing friends whose love and esteem were attested by nearly one hundred floral offerings. On his tombstone is engraved the motto of our State, “All for our Country.”