Extracted from The Ruston Daily Leader (Ruston, LA)
Howard T. McCarty
Services for Howard T. McCarty, 88, of Ruston, will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, June 5, 2000, in the Temple Baptist Church Chapel in Ruston. Officiating will be Rev. Rick Byargeon and Rev. Dale Oden.
Interment will be in Pines Memorial Gardens in Ruston under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home of Ruston.
Mr. McCarty died June 2, 2000, in Ruston.
Mr. McCarty was a native of Homer in Claiborne Parish. He was born October 15, 1911. Later he lived in West Monroe, Haynesville, Monroe, and Shreveport before his employer, Gulf Oil Corporation, transferred him to New Orleans and Houston, respectively. Upon retirement, he and his wife moved to Ruston. He was a member of Temple Baptist Church, where he taught the Friendship Bible Class for many years.
He was an ordained Baptist Minister and, while employed by Gulf, served rural churches within the proximity of Shreveport. His pastorates included Pilgrim Home Baptist Church near Plain Dealing, and New Bethel Baptist Church of Rocky Mount. Most recently, he served as interim pastor of Barnett Springs Baptist Church of Ruston. Additionally, he served as pulpit supply for numerous area churches.
He attended Louisiana Polytechnic Institute (now Louisiana Tech University) and was a member of the varsity track team. He also attended Louisiana State University and Centenary College of Louisiana. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from that school.
Most of his working career was spent in the oil and gas industry. He was employed by Gulf Oil Corporation for almost 32 years prior to his retirement in 1976. Before joining Gulf, he was Secretary-Treasurer of the Rodessa Operators Committee, a Petroleum engineering group conducting reservoir studies of the expansive tri-state Rodessa oil and gas field.
He was a writer. Over a period of time, he wrote a biographical homespun column titled, "Lessons from the Classroom of Life" which was published in the local newspaper. Many of his boyhood and early manhood experiences were shared with the readers. Also he was a regular contributor of inspirational messages to the religious section of the Ruston newspaper.
He was preceded in death by his parents, James M. McCarty and Martha Smitherman McCarty; a sister, Mary Eleanor McCarty Hightower; twin brother, James Harlan McCarty; and a younger brother, Marvin R. McCarty.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Lee McCarty; two sons, Jack Howard McCarty of Palm Springs, Calif., and Harlan Barrett McCarty and wife Elizeth Garrett McCarty of Houston; two sisters, Frances McCarty Mitchell of Shreveport and Hazel McCarty Allen and husband G. D. of Greensboro, N.C.; a brother, Robert J. McCarty of Aledo, Texas; three grandchildren, Michael, Russell and Rachel McCarty of Houston; numerous nephews and nieces.
Pallbearers will be Edwin Driggers, Marlon Stigall, Bill Henderson, A. L. Moffett, Bill Hamilton and Jesse Riser.
Honorary pallbearers will be present and former members of the Friendship Bible Class of Temple Baptist Church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Louisiana Baptist Children's Home, P. O. Box 4196, Monroe, La., 71211 or to a benevolent cause of the donor's choice.
Family will receive friends Sunday, June 4, 2000 from 5 until 8 p.m. at Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Ruston.
Sunday, June 4, 2000