Fairie Lyn Carter

Ms. Fairie Lyn Carter, age 90, died Tuesday, April 4, 2017 in Biloxi, MS. She was born October 1, 1926 in Biloxi where her family operated Carter's Hat Shop. Fairie Lyn was preceded in death by her parents, William Raymond Carter, Jr. and Velma C. Carter; sister, Velma Fern Carter; and her brother, William Prentiss Carter. In 1944 Fairie Lyn graduated with honors from Biloxi High School where she was a member of the concert/marching band and the dance band. She was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Biloxi, The Rainbow Girls, and Girl Scouts. Working one summer for an insurance agency and two summers at Keesler Field paid her college expenses at MSCW, now MUW. She received her B.S. degree magna cum laude with a double major in chemistry and biology in 1948. Her activities included membership in Mortar Board and the honor societies for biology (BBB), chemistry (GSE, president) and mathematics (KME). She was also a reporter for the Spectator, The Campus Newspaper, and a member of Blue Serenaders, the W dance orchestra. Fairie Lyn undertook her graduate study (1948-1950) in chemistry at the University of North Carolina where she had an assistantship as a laboratory instructor. In the fall of 1950, Fairie Lyn began her professional career as a research chemist in the Limnology Department of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. She was attached to a team of biologists who conducted surveys of streams to determine their degree of "health" or "pollution." She could wade some streams with sneakers or hip boots, but generally she took her samples from a boat with an outboard. On larger rivers such as the Neches (Texas) and St. Lawrence (Canada), she had to be alert for ocean-going ships. Her career with U.S.D.A. began in 1955 at the Eastern Regional Research Laboratory (E.R.R.L.) in Philadelphia where she became interested in amino acid research. She continued this work in the Oilseeds Project at S.R.R.L. in New Orleans. Her work dealt with the use of oilseeds as sources of high quality proteins. While living in Philadelphia, she played in the Swarthmore Symphony Orchestra. After seven years in New Orleans, she moved back home to Biloxi through transfers within the U.S.D.A. to a Forest Service laboratory in Gulfport. Her first assignment pertained to termite control in different soils and climates throughout the U.S.A. In 1975, Fairie Lyn was invited to discuss her research on antitermitic tests on selected American hardwoods and their extracts with a Native American termite species at the International Symposium on Organisms and Wood in Berlin, Germany. After retiring from the Forest Service in 1984, she accepted an invitation from the Division of Entomology, CSIRO in Canberra, Australia to participate in a chemotaxonomy study with the cooperation of the Gulfport Laboratory. Fairie Lyn had over 50 papers published and presented her research findings at various meetings. Fairie Lyn was a member of Ann Grayson, Chapter OES, First Baptist Church, Sigma Xi, Agape S.S. Class, Audubon Society, The Entomological Society, and The American Chemistry Society for 60 years Fairie Lyn's many interest included birding, gardening, camping and travel. She made several trips to Europe, which included Great Britain, the home of her paternal grandparents, the Caucasus area of the USSR, as well as Moscow and St. Petersburg, Baltic Cruise. Other trips included New Zealand, China, Alaska, South Africa, Macho Picchu and Peru, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Belize and many more. Most of her trips were nature oriented. Her family and friends would like to express their appreciation for the help given to Fairie Lyn during her illness by her doctors, cousins and special friends and also to the staff of Greenbriar Nursing Center and Kindred Hospice. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Fairie Lyn Carter to the Leukemia Society, MS/LA Chapter, 3636 South I-10 Svc. Road , Suite 304, Metairie, LA 70070, the MS Baptist Foundation, P.O. Box 530, Jackson, MS, 39205, or the National Audubon Society, Attention: Tribute Gift. 225 Varick Street, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10014, Services will be held at 3pm on Monday, April 10, 2017 at the Howard Avenue Chapel of Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home. Friends may visit from 1pm until 3pm. Interment will follow at Southern Memorial Park.