Portrait of Pat Carter. IMB Photo
Pat Harold Carter, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Mexico, died Dec. 4, 2025. He was 99.
Pat was born May 16, 1926, in Port Arthur, Texas, to the late James A. Carter Sr. and Marie Carter. He graduated from Morrow (Louisiana) High School, and received the Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana College, Pineville, the Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisiana, and the Doctor of Theology and the Doctor of Philosophy from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.
Upon completion of his first year of premedical studies, Pat enlisted in the Navy. He served for two years in the Hospital Corps, spending part of that time aboard a transport in the Pacific. While seeking missionary appointment he wrote, “During these years of Navy life the conviction began to move upon me that God wanted me to preach. By the time I was discharged I was convinced that this was God’s will for my life.”
He married Evelyn Winham on Sept. 5, 1946. During their first year of marriage, he continued his studies that had been interrupted by military service. In October 1946, Pat was called to be pastor of the Latanier Baptist Church in LeCompte, Louisiana. After graduation from college, they moved to New Orleans, where Pat enrolled in seminary and accepted the pastorate of the Baptist Church at Fordoche, Louisiana. In 1951, they moved to California, where Pat served as pastor of the Bayview Baptist Church in San Francisco. In 1955, they moved once more, this time to Fort Worth, where he pursued his studies and continued to serve as pastor in several churches.
While seeking missionary appointment Pat wrote, “In the fall of 1957 at a Mission Day service, I became absolutely convinced of the fact that God wanted me in foreign missions. … I came to see that the Great Commission included everyone who is truly a Christian. … When I came to that understanding of the call to missions and began to realize what a small group of people are trying to minister to the greater proportion of the lost world, I prayed, ‘Lord, please call me for foreign mission service!’ And He did!”
Pat continued, “As I think of leaving the country with my wife and three children, it is with the deepest sense of certainty that we go led of God, and with the deepest and most profound gratitude that He has led us to see His perfect will for our lives.”
In 1958, the International Mission Board appointed Pat and Evelyn missionaries to Mexico. Pat served as a seminary professor, field missionary, and seminary director. In their final years in Mexico City, he was a church planter and pastor, as well as a professional counselor.
Pat was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Evelyn Winham Carter.
He is survived by his children, David Carter (Vicki), Linda Bullard (David), and Carol Martinez; six grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
A funeral service was held Dec. 12 at Shannon Rufe Snow Drive Funeral Chapel, Fort Worth, Texas, with burial in Laurel Land – Rose Hill Memorial Park and Funeral Home, Fort Worth.
Read an obituary here.