Leta Wells Carter, 94, died at St. Catherine’s Village in Madison, Miss., Wednesday, May 8.

She was born in Tallahatchie County near Webb on June 3, 1929, to Lillie Mae and Virgil Wells, the fifth child and youngest daughter of six.

She moved from Lula in Coahoma County to Rolling Fork in the fourth grade, where she was educated in the Rolling Fork public schools and graduated from Rolling Fork High School in 1948.

She married her childhood sweetheart and spouse of 68 years, Jimmie Dick Carter, on September 1, 1950.

She was a faithful member of First Baptist Church in Rolling Fork, where she taught kindergarten and Sunday School.

Deeply rooted in Mississippi, she was a sixth-generation descendent of The Rev. Isaac Wells, pioneer Methodist minister who came from Georgia to the Mississippi Territory in 1810, eventually settling in Leake County. She was devoted to her family and church, was active in her local Garden Club and Mississippi Farm Bureau and served as president of The Garden Clubs of Mississippi and on the executive board of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Women’s Missionary Union. She was a patient, generous and loving wife and mother.

She is survived by her five children, Clark Carter (Emily) and Martha Abney (John) of Rolling Fork, Hollis Carter (Ann) of Little Rock, Richard Carter (Sharon) of Valdosta, Ga., and Rebecca Tate (Bennie) of Hammond, La.; her grandchildren, Carter Abney (Beth), Becky Carter, Reid Carter (Emily), Robert Carter and Steven Carter, Sydney Gardner (Christian), Beth Harlow (Lawson), Mattie Mize (Bennett), and Lelia Katherine Tate; her great-grandchildren, Mary Martha, Ben and Walt Abney, John Christian, Wells, Landry and Swayze Gardner, Rowan and Haddon Harlow, and Wylie Mize and Watson Carter; and her brother, Virgil Wells and half-sister Ann Wells.

She was a devoted sister, aunt, and cousin.

She is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Jimmie Dick; her sisters, Ernestine Rainey, Oneita Keith, Jim Ella Aden, and Bessie May Wells; and grandsons, Nathan Tate and James Carter III.

Visitation and services will be held Saturday, May 11, at First Baptist Church of Rolling Fork. Visitation begins at 10 a.m., followed by the service at 11 a.m.

Pallbearers are Carter Abney, Reid Carter, Robert Carter, Steven Carter, Christian Gardner, John Christian Gardner, Lawson Harlow, and Bennett Mize.

Honorary pallbearers are Frank Corban, Gil Corban, John Corban, Kevin Corban, Gary Hays, Mike Huoni, Mike Lamensdorf, Clifton Porter, Bill Newsome, Mike Ray, Drick Rodgers, Buddy Strong, Joseph Thomas, and James Washington.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to First Baptist Church of Rolling Fork (205 S. 2nd St., Rolling Fork, MS 39159).