CLEVELAND, May 3 — Funeral services are Wednesday for BLET member Christopher L. Carter, 57, who drowned in a flash flood on his way to work for the Union Pacific Railroad on May 1.
A veteran locomotive engineer, Brother Carter was a member of BLET Division 858 in Pine Bluff, Ark. He had been a BLET member for more than 36 years, first joining the Brotherhood on February 1, 1975.
Investigators suspect that Brother Carter’s vehicle may have hydroplaned due to torrential rains and swiftly rising flash flood waters at 1:22 a.m. on May 1. His Ford Explorer left the roadway before coming to rest in the ditch between the roadway and the railroad tracks, where it was quickly covered in flood waters over five feet deep.
A visitation is today from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Ralph Robinson & Son funeral home in Pine Bluff, Ark. (807 S. Cherry St., Pine Bluff, Ark. 71601, phone: (870) 534-3131).
Funeral services are Wednesday, May 4 at 10:00 a.m. at the same location. Committal services are at 3:00 p.m. at Chapelwood Cemetery near Texarkana in Bowie County, Texas.
After attending the University of Arkansas at Monticello he worked for Sears for a short time before beginning his railroad career. Joining the Cotton Belt Railroad in Pine Bluff he became a locomotive engineer for what is now the Union Pacific Railroad. He was transferred to Texarkana and then back to Pine Bluff where he was currently stationed.
Survivors include his wife, Sharen René Burgess Carter, who he married April 21, 1989 in Texarkana, Texas; sons, Christopher Chase Carter and Cody Wayne Hensley; brother, Ardell Carter and wife, Lynn,; sisters, Phyllis Carter, Suzette Rice and husband, Phillip, and Renee Rowe and husband, James; grandson, Christopher Aiden Carter; and many nieces and nephews.
He was born in Pine Bluff May 13, 1953, a son of the late Billy Ardell and Thelma LaVerne McCrary Carter. He was a 1972 graduate of Southeast Academy in Gould, Arkansas.
Memorials are requested to the American Red Cross of Faulkner County, 1301 Museum Road, Conway, Ark. 72032.