McLemoresville - HALBERT LEROY CARTER, son of Horace Leroy and Ethel Harvey Carter, died at 10 minutes after one o'clock on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at home in McLemoresville, TN, surrounded by his family. He leaves behind a reputation of absolute integrity. Mr. Carter spent his childhood and youth in McLemoresville, where he was an "A" student at the McLemoresville Collegiate Institute and a star athlete under Mr. J.I. Bell. He was courted by several southern colleges, but chose instead to go into the family business with his beloved father. The original store, Harvey and Carter, sold groceries, dry goods, and hardware. Later it became H.L. Carter And Son, and Mr. Carter and his father expanded their business to a number of stores around West Tennessee. Halbert Carter loved only one woman in all his life, Esther Virginia Hillsman, whom he married in 1932, when the depression was at its most fearsome. They had three children, Halbert Leroy, Jr., Dixie Virginia, and Melba Helen. In 1942, he left his family to serve in WWII. He was in Europe for 2½ years, during which time his father died. Upon his return to civilian life, he reconceived the Huntingdon business and created a first-of-its-kind self-service department store, with the newly renovated Ben Franklin Variety Store in the basement. Because he had divested himself of all but two stores in order to respond to the draft, Mr. Carter then began to open new stores, rebuilding his business over a period of time. His innovative advertising and promotional techniques, including live music in the store, drew customers from a 50-mile radius, but the essence of his success was his vibrant personality, his generous spirit, and his kind heart. In 1950, he moved his family to Huntingdon, their home for the next 35 years, where he became a community leader. 43 years later, in 1993, the town's first heritage festival honored him with Halbert Carter Day. Mr. Carter was open to new endeavours. In the 1950's he acquired and transformed a beachfront property in Sarasota, FL into a flourishing residential motel. During the 1970's, he accepted a challenging job in property management which took him and Mrs. Carter to Atlanta for 7 years. After Mr. Carter retired from business, he and Mrs. Carter moved back to his birthplace in McLemoresville, where they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. When Virginia Carter died in 1988, Halbert began spending most of his time in Los Angeles with his daughter Dixie and her husband, Hal Holbrook. There he made many friends and a number of television appearances. His lifelong appetite for reading continued unabated, as did his irresistible storytelling. He was a natural singer and musician, and charmed lots of folks with impromptu serenades. In October 2004, he came back home in McLemoresville to stay. A lifelong Methodist and staunch Republican, he is survived by his son's widow, Mrs. Margo Carter; his daughters, Mrs. Dixie Carter (Hal) Holbrook and Mrs. Melba Helen Carter (Steve) Heath; grandchildren, John (Un Chu) Carter, James (Amelia) Carter, Horace (Missy) Carter, Ginna Carter, Mary Dixie Carter (Steven) Kempf, Hillsman Heath, Stephen Heath, and Christian Heath; great-grandchildren, Margaret, Adaline, Joe, Halbert and Gus Carter. Along with devoted friends, Halbert Carter leaves a family who will miss him forever. Funeral services will be conducted on Thursday, March 1 at 12 Noon at the McLemoresville United Methodist Church. Entombment will follow in the McLemoresville Cemetery. Arrangements handled by: Dilday Funeral Home - Huntingdon (Published in The Commercial Appeal on 2/28/2007.)