I was a student of Jack's at APU from 2000-2004 and I am fairly certain I had at least one course with him every semester that I was there. I was in the pre-engineering program and also helped him develop the robotics section of the physics department along with Joe Denny. I have vivid memories of working away in the back room of the Physics Lab that connected to his office and we would often chat away about our love of the outdoors (snow skiing, hiking) and playing tennis. I kept in touch with Jack for many years afterwards when I continued my studies at Cal State Fullerton and when I began working at Northrop. I even invited him along to an awards ceremony since he played such a pivotal role in my vocation as an engineer. We really do stand on the shoulders of those that have gone before us and I feel as though Jack's shoulders were very high. He cared about his students and was an important mentor in my life. I am now a theologian in Oxford but I teach science and religion and focus mostly on technology. I am certain those seeds sown many years ago which endeavored to bring our faith into contact with our studies did much in helping me in my present vocation. He is sorely missed and I look forward to seeing him again in glory.
michael burdett
20th November 2013
As this April 15th marks the one-year anniversary of Professor Carter's passing, I want to say a few words about the profound influence he has had in my life. As a physics major at APU in the early 1990's, I had the occasion to attend multiple classes with Prof. Carter, including a couple of engineering mechanics courses and a several advanced math classes.
My fondest memory of him was during a class called "Statics," which was at that time offered only upon the rare occasion that there were engineering students available. Since I was the first physics major at APU, I took this class along with the engineering students. I was very grateful indeed that he decided to go ahead and teach it, as there were only three of us matriculated to take the course that semester. After the first few weeks of class, it just so happened that the other two students dropped out or became unavailable, so this left Prof. Carter and I to carry on by ourselves! One to one is a pretty good teacher/student ratio! Every session, I would come to class and we'd open the textbook and talk about each of the lessons as if we were having a personal discussion rather than a class. On occasion he would use examples from his own personal engineering experience to illuminate the text, and I looked forward to our time together.
When we'd finished our lesson (which often didn't take too long, as I was the only student), we often talked about life experiences and various topics which interested us as like-minded technical folks. I remember stories of snowmobile accidents, running a farm (and the importance of having good neighbors during a harsh winter!), running businesses (including health clubs and other pursuits), playing plenty of tennis, and experiencing lots of outdoor adventures.
I felt that we became close during that time, in part because I saw a lot of my dad in him (who is also very much an entrepreneur and avation-loving person), and also because he had just been through a difficult time with the loss of his wife Judy (whom I hadn't the privilege of knowing). That class is one of my fondest memories at APU, and I think it was a divine appointment.
I have missed being able to go and visit him in his office, but am very grateful to look up and see some of those old textbooks on my shelf and remember his practical teaching and advice. I thank God for Jack and his influence on my life.
With prayer and remembrance,
J.D.
jdcarnes
14th April 2012
Sorry that we missed the Memorial service today. We started drving to Azusa on Wed. Dave hurt his knee pretty badly so we had to turn around and come back home. We hope everything went well today.
Kay Sigafoos long time friend of the family
Allegra Kay Sigafoos
10th August 2011