Elizabeth Whitman "Bunt" Karter

KARTER, Elizabeth "Bunt" Whitman Elizabeth "Bunt" Whitman Karter, civic leader and philanthropist, died Monday, (October 25, 2004) of colon cancer at the age of 81 at her home in Old Lyme. She was surrounded by her family. Born, Elizabeth Carmen Whitman in 1923 in New Britain, Bunt graduated from the Emma Willard School in Albany, NY in 1941 and Wheaton College, Norton, MA in 1945. She was a trustee of both schools for many years and spearheaded a wide range of fundraising, recruiting and alumnae activities. She was honored for her contributions with Distinguished Alumni Lifetime Achievement Awards from both Wheaton and Emma Willard in 1988 and 2000 respectively. From 1947 to 1950 she served the US Defense Department Army Special Services, running recreation activities for the troops during the Allied occupation of Germany. There she met her husband, Peter Karter, who was a graduate of West Point, serving in the Army Corps of Engineers, and they were married in Darmstadt, Germany. They recently celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary. While raising four daughters she was a pillar of every community in which they lived, including Cambridge, MA, Fort Belvoir, VA, Old Saybrook, West Point, NY, Norwalk, York, PA and finally, Old Lyme where they made their home since 1969. She was a leader and volunteer in numerous civic activities including being President of the League of Women Voters, President of the PTA, running Girl Scout and Brownie troops, and many building and preservation activities for her churches and communities. Bunt served for 16 years on the Board of Education in Old Lyme. She was the driving force on the Missions and Outreach Committee at St. Anne's Episcopal Church. Over the years she was a Board member and/or active participant in the Connecticut Recycler's Coalition, the Old Lyme Conservation Trust, the Shoreline Soup Kitchen, the Old Lyme Affordable Housing Coalition, Old Lyme Youth Services, AFS, the Old Lyme Garden Club and the Nearly New Shop of St. Anne's. She was active until the time of her illness with all of these commitments. As recently as last week she was making political calls for John Kerry's election and still giving advice and support to her colleagues. For over 20 years, Bunt worked full-time as Medical Records Administrator for Lawrence and Memorial Hospital. Bunt was one of the organizers of the first recycling program in Old Lyme. From this small beginning came the germ of an idea for industrial-scale curbside recycling and the formation of Resource Recovery Systems, Inc. of Branford. Working together with Bunt, her husband Peter founded this company, which eventually had processing plants in nine states. It was nationally recognized as the industry leader and the model is now replicated throughout the country. For all the accomplishments of an enormously active and well-lived life, Bunt will be remembered for a quality of being that is hard to capture in words. She was broadly known and loved throughout the many communities in which she was a leader and activist. Her kindness, generous nature, indefatigable spirit and good works extended not only to her immediate circle but far beyond. She was an extraordinarily positive and optimistic person. To those who knew her, the most remarkable thing about her was her instinct to reach out to anyone who entered in to her range of vision and offer help and friendship without even perceiving herself as having been generous or done anything unusual or notable. What can't ever be counted are the many, many people Bunt took in to her home and her heart. She is survived by her sister, Sarah Whitman of Chester; her husband, Peter Karter, their four daughters, Jean Gulliver and her husband John Gulliver of Falmouth ME, Dede Appelbaum and her husband Paul Appelbaum of Newton, MA, Trish Karter of Milton, MA, Liddy Karter and her husband Lex Richardson of Old Lyme; and ten grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, Bunt has requested that contributions be given to the organizations through which you knew her or to: The Old Lyme Conservation Trust, Old Lyme Affordable Housing Coalition or the Haitian Children's Relief Fund c/o St. Anne's Church in Old Lyme. Memorial Services will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, November 6 at St. Anne's. A private interment will follow on Sunday. Fulton-Theroux Funeral Home, Old Lyme is handling the arrangements.