MATTOON, IL – Elsie Marie Carter, 94, of Mattoon, Illinois passed away peacefully Wednesday, January 12, 2022, at her home. Private family services will be held with a burial in Roselawn Cemetery, Charleston, Illinois. Memorials in her honor may be made to the Mattoon First Presbyterian Church Education Department, or Kemmerer Village in Assumption, Illinois, or Grace Presbyterian Church in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin or left at the visitation/service or mailed to Adams Funeral Chapel, 2330 Shawnee Drive, Charleston, IL 61920.
Elsie was born June 10, 1927, in Lafayette Township, Illinois, the daughter of Charles Edward and Fern Elsie (Annis) Furry. Elsie married Charles D. Carter on January 19, 1947, in Mattoon, and he preceded her on February 19, 2008. She is survived by her six children, Jeanne Berk, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Thomas (Gail) Carter of Janesville, Wisconsin, Richard Carter of Woodstock, Georgia, Donald (Sonya) Carter of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Cynthia (Liam) Downey of Boulder, Colorado, and Barbara Carter (Marc D. Moskovitz) of Durham, North Carolina; 16 grandchildren, Jason Carter, Erica (Phillip) Ledford, Derek (Lindsay) Carter, Melissa Chukwueze, Matthew (Jenn) Carter, Kevin Carter, Kyle (Kristin) Carter, Brooke (Drew) Schelar, Kyle (Kelly) Martin, Maja Carter, Dakota Downey, Natalie Downey, Eve Moskovitz, Alyra Moskovitz, Leila Moskovitz, and Adin Moskovitz; 12 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Elizabeth (Betty) Newby; brothers, William Furry and Carl Furry; and daughter-in-law, Cecelia Carter.
Elsie was a homemaker and also worked as a pre-school teacher for Beaver Dam Presbyterian Church for several years. She was a volunteer at the Kemmerer Village in Assumption and valued her membership at Mattoon’s First Presbyterian Church where she actively participated in the church community. She also volunteered at Lincoln Log Cabin State Park and received the Thomas and Sarah Lincoln Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2018 for her services to her community.
In her younger years Elsie was active, bicycling and playing tennis, and she had a love for traveling both in and out of the country. Her true love was children, and she truly enjoyed her time teaching Sunday School.
Aside from being a teacher and a homemaker, Elsie had a passion and talent for sewing, quilting, knitting, and tailoring. She knitted mittens for Indian Reservations and won awards for her sewing and knitting at the Coles County Fair and Dodge County Fair in Wisconsin. With her tailoring skills she made clothing, as well as wedding dresses, and she would often knit and sew in the evenings after her children went to bed. She truly had a servant’s heart and embraced her life from beginning to end
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