George Watts Carr Jr.

George Watts Carr Jr., 87, long time Durham business and civic leader, died at his residence in Morehead City on Saturday, July 29, 2006, following a brief illness. Carr was born December 6, 1918, the oldest son of George Watts Carr, noted architect, and Amy Winston Carr. Reared in Durham and a 1936 graduate of Durham High School, he was also well known in Morehead City and Atlantic Beach, where he spent his childhood summers and annual vacations.
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, fromwhich he graduated in 1940, Carr was class vice-president, a member of the varsity basketball team, SAE fraternity, and the Order of Gimghoul. He earned Phi Beta Kappa honors as well and was inducted into the Order of The Grail. The yearbook entry forhis senior year identifies him as "The Pulse" of the campus.
Following graduation, he enlisted in the United StatesMarine Corps and was sent to Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. Newly commissioned as a second lieutenant, he married Carolyn Ihrie Pou of Raleigh before being transferred to Camp Pendleton, California. He shipped out shortly thereafter to New Zealand and spent nearly three years in the Pacific Theater, seeing action during amphibious assaults on Bougainville, Guam, and Okinawa. He served on the executive staff of General Lemuel Shepherd, later commandant of the Marine Corps. Awarded two bronze stars, Carr rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was later promoted to full colonel in the Inactive Reserve. In 1995, he attended ceremonies in Pearl Harbor and on Guam, marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of the end WW II and the Americanvictory in the Pacific.
Back home after the war, Carr joined Durham Realty and Insurance Company, where he became president of the insurance division and served as president of the North Carolina Association of Insurance Agents. Later, he was named CEO of the firm, by then known as Southland Associates. Under his guidance, Southland developed many landmarks of the Triangle region, including Surrey Green, Bright Leaf Square, Treyburn, and American Village. In retirement, Carr continued to serve as Southland's chairman.
Carr's contributions as a civic leader were no less impressive. He served on the Durham City Council for six years before running unsuccessfully for mayor in 1961 against Wense Grabarek. After the election, Grabarek asked his opponent to chair the Committee for Racial Conciliation, also known as the Durham Interim Committee, during the early, trying days of integration. Carr's specific areas of responsibility-restaurants, theaters, motels, and hotels-encompassed many of the most contentious issues of the times. Thanks largely to his coalition building and tireless efforts, Durham experienced none of the violence so common elsewhere in the South. He later served as a trustee for North Carolina Central University and as vice -chair of the NCCU Foundation. Named Durham's Young Man of the Year in 1952, Carr was an active Jaycee and served as president of the Durham Chamber of Commerce during a period of major reorganization. He was also at various times president of Hope Valley Country Club, a founding member of the Country Club of North Carolina, chairman of the Durham board of CCB, North Carolina chairman of Radio Free Europe, and chairman and secretary-treasurer of the Board of Trustees of Watts Hospital,an institution made possible by his great uncle, George W. Watts. A charter member of Tarheel 100, Carr was vice-chair of theDowntown Revitalization Foundation, a member of the executive committee of the Research Triangle Foundation board, chairman of the Research Triangle Service Center, and a board member of both Durham United Way and Urban Ministries of Durham. In 1963, he received the Durham Civic Award. Carr was an ardent supporter of UNC-Chapel Hill and served as president of the General Alumni Association. He was a trustee and fund raiser for the Gimghoul Castle, a Friend of the UNC Library, and a Louis Round Wilson Fellow. A life-long member of St. Philips Episcopal Church in Durham, where he served as vestryman and junior and senior warden, Carr was on the board of directors of the Diocese of North Carolina and chairman of the Episcopal Foundation. He was also a member of the Society of Cincinnati and of the Idle Hour Country Club in Lexington, Kentucky.In addition to enjoying spending time with his family, old friends, and Marine buddies, Carr liked to golf, read, work in the yard, fish the waters off Morehead City, dove hunt and tend to his springer spaniels. He was devoted to UNC basketball and was an accomplished cook. Among family members, his scratch biscuits were legendary.
Known for his dry wit and a sly smile, Carr was a loving and caring father and husband. He believed in doing what was right, not what was convenient, and he lived that credo in his daily life and in all his actions. Although he talked little about his war service, his time in the Pacific Theater clearly shaped hisvalues. Carr's wife of 50 years, Ihrie, preceded him in death in 1991. After his 1992 marriage to the former Ruth Woltz Alford, Carr divided his time between Durham and Lexington, Kentucky, where Ruth Carr died July 27, 2006.
Watts Carr is survived by his younger brother, Robert W. "Judge" Carr who continues to head up the architectural firm founded by their father; four children and their spouses-Watts III and Betsy Carr of Greensboro, Ihrie (Candy) and Howard Means of Millwood, VA, Amy and Dr. Jim Thullen of Morehead City, Ross and Traci Carr of Pine Knoll Shores; two stepsons and their spouses, Admiral Van Meter and Becky Alford of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Farra and Katie Alford of Lexington, KY; six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren; and two special life long pals, cousins and fellow Marines, Al Carr of Durham, and Lawrence Tomlinson of Charlotte.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to St. Philips Church, 403 E. Main St., Durham, NC 27701; the George Watts Carr Library Fund, Wilson Library, CB# 3930, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514; or First Presbyterian Church, 171 Market St., Lexington, Kentucky 40507.
A Worship of Thanksgiving for the life of George Watts Carr Jr. will be held at St. Philips Episcopal Church on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 beginning at 11 a.m. A private graveside service at Maplewood Cemetery will precede the ceremony. The extended family should gather in the parish house a half hour prior to the service.
The family will receive friends in the St. Philips parish house after the service.
Arrangements for the Carr family areunder the care of Hall-Wynne Funeral Service.
Online memorial may be submitted at www.hallwynne.com; select obituaries.